▁took ▁over ▁the ▁reign , ▁previous ▁schools ▁of ▁thought ▁such ▁as ▁T ao ism ▁and ▁Conf u cian ism ▁( except ▁Leg al ism ) ▁were ▁den ounced ▁as ▁back ward , ▁and ▁later ▁p urg ed ▁during ▁the ▁violence ▁of ▁the ▁Cultural ▁Revolution ▁which ▁saw ▁many ▁T ao ist ▁and ▁Buddh ist ▁tem ples ▁and ▁institutions ▁destroyed . ▁ ▁Japanese ▁ ▁Modern ▁Japanese ▁thought ▁is ▁strongly ▁influenced ▁by ▁Western ▁science ▁and ▁philosophy . ▁Japan ' s ▁rapid ▁modern ization ▁was ▁partly ▁a ided ▁by ▁the ▁early ▁study ▁of ▁western ▁science ▁( known ▁as ▁Rang aku ) ▁during ▁the ▁E do ▁Period ▁( 1 6 0 3 – 1 8 6 8 ). ▁Another ▁intellectual ▁movement ▁during ▁the ▁E do ▁period ▁was ▁K ok ug aku ▁( n ational ▁study ), ▁which ▁sought ▁to ▁focus ▁on ▁the ▁study ▁of ▁ancient ▁Japanese ▁thought , ▁classic ▁texts ▁and ▁culture ▁over ▁and ▁against ▁foreign ▁Chinese ▁and ▁Buddh ist ▁cult ures . ▁A ▁key ▁figure ▁of ▁this ▁movement ▁is ▁M oto ori ▁Nor in aga ▁( 1 7 3 0 – 1 8 0 1 ), ▁who ▁argued ▁that ▁the ▁ess ence ▁of ▁classic ▁Japanese ▁literature ▁and ▁culture ▁was ▁a ▁sense ▁called ▁mon o ▁no ▁aware ▁(" s orrow ▁at ▁ev an esc ence "). ▁ ▁In ▁the ▁Me iji ▁period ▁( 1 8 6 8 – 1 9 1 2 ), ▁the ▁modern ist ▁Me iro k ush a ▁( Me iji ▁ 6 , ▁formed ▁in ▁ 1 8 7 4 ) ▁intellectual ▁society ▁promoted