The opening line of Fukuzawa Yukichi's An Encouragement of Learning (1872): 'Heaven does not create one person above another, nor one person below another' — can be called modern Japan's first enlightenment declaration, denying the feudal class system. It became a bestseller of over 3.4 million copies. This article explains the thought of the scholar who, alongside founding Keio University, symbolized the spirit of independence in modern Japan.