He graduated from the Tokyo Higher School of Commerce (today's Hitotsubashi University).

After he was appointed lecturer of his alma mater, he studied in Germany, under Karl Bücher among others in the field, and he earned his doctorate from Munich University.

[2] After World War I, he defended democracy, advanced a critique of Marxian theory, and emphasized the solution of social and labour problems by government intervention rather than revolution.

As an advisor to the Ministry of Home Affairs, he also worked out policy drafts.

He is closely related to the Japanese liberal movement and is considered a social-liberal or social-democrat.