 Itagaki's involvement in liberalism lent it political legitimacy in Japan, and he became a leader of the push for democratic reform.Itagaki and his associations created a variety of organizations to fuse "samurai" ethos with western liberalism and to agitate for a national assembly, written constitution and limits to arbitrary exercise of power by the government.These included the "Risshisha" (Self-Help Movement) and the "Aikokusha" (Society of Patriots) in 1875.