 Originally he had wanted to specialize in European political thought, but changed his focus to concentrate on Japanese political thought, a subject that until that time, mainly centered around the concept of an imperial state, and was influenced by a foundational ordinance that required subjects to be taught 'in accordance with the needs of the state'.Maruyama brought to the discipline a theoretical perspective grounded in extensive comparativism.The person who originally recommended this path to him was his mentor, Professor Nambara Shigeru, who was highly critical of military and bureaucratic obstructions to the growth of a constitutionally defined 'national community'.