In the middle days of the Edo period, Kokugaku became popular while being influenced by positivist Confucianism with nationalism as a background. Kokugaku positively studied ancient Japanese thought and culture, including "Kojiki", "Nihon Shoki" and "Man'yōshū", and they aimed at excavating original moral culture of Japan which was different from Confucianism and Buddhism. Kamo no Mabuchi wrestled with the study of "Manyoshu" and called "masurao-buri" for masculine and tolerant style, and he evaluated the collection as pure and simple. Through his study of the "Kojiki", Motoori Norinaga argued that the essence of the Japanese literature came from "mono no aware" which were natural feelings to occur when you contacted an object. He respected Japanese "Yamato spirit" instead of Chinese (Confucianism / Buddhism) "Kara spirit". According to him, Kokugaku should pursue the Japanese old way of "Shinto". Through his study of Kokugaku, Hirata Atsutane advocated nationalistic State Shinto, the obedience to the Emperor and abolition of Confucianism and Buddhism. It was a driving force to the end of the Tokugawa shogunate and the Meiji Restoration.