SOURCE: "Nishida Kitaro: The Early Years," in Tradition and Modernization in Japanese Culture, edited by Donald H. Shively, Princeton University Press, 1971, pp. 507-62.

In the following essay, originally published in 1960, Viglielmo provides an overview of Nishida's early philosophical beliefs.

Waga kokoro
 Fukaki soko ari
 Yorokobi mo
 Uree no nami mo
 Todokaji to omou 

My soul
 Has such depth
 Neither joy
 Nor the waves of sorrow
 Can reach it.1

Nishida Kitaro's position as the foremost philosopher of modern Japan is unchallenged. Even his detractors, of whom there are many, particularly among the Marxists and quasi-Marxists, recognize his eminence and do not appear to begrudge him the title of "founder of modern Japanese philosophy." Indeed the very vehemence and frequency of their attacks on him serve only to attest to his significance. It is generally admitted that Nishida departed from the rather crude eclecticism of his predecessors and almost singlehandedly...