His aforementioned work "Jinsei Chirigaku" ("A Geography of Human Life"), predates the academic study of geography at the Imperial Universities of Kyoto and Tokyo in 1907 and 1911, respectively, and pioneered a new approach to teaching geography in Japan. Written between the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, the work presents human geography as a subject for both formal and nonformal learning to advance an understanding of cultural differences shaping and shaped by the relationship between human activity and its natural environment. While "Japanese geographers of the time were chiefly concerned with describing the physical features of the earth," Makiguchi was arguably the first to discuss human geography as a system of knowledge correlating location theory and spatial distribution of human phenomena with economic, social and political geographies. In Makiguchi's words, "it is through our spiritual interaction with the earth that the characteristics that we think of as human are ignited and nurtured within us." In this work, Makiguchi also formulated the concept of humanitarian competition as an approach to international relations, writing that: "The important thing is the setting of a goal of well being and protection of all people, including oneself but not at the increase of self-interest alone. In other words, the aim is the betterment of others and in doing so, one chooses ways that will yield personal benefit as well as benefits to others. It is a conscious effort to create a more harmonious community life."