The purpose of this research is to investigate the ways in which early modern Japanese society received the concept of human rights, especially through the translation of a term ‘human rights’ and its application into its own society during the early Meiji period (1868-1880). Unlike a traditional approach to this subject which examines the extent to which individual translators were influenced by particular works of Western Europe, this investigation has been inspired by analysis of early modern Japanese dictionaries(written by Japanese students in the Netherlands) and of contemporary theoretical debates on the meanings of ‘inherent human rights.’ During the course of my research I have come across that the first translation of the term that appeared in Japanese language, Thuda mamichi(1868), which employed the term ‘human rights’ to mean the natural rights and civil rights endowed by the Creator. Else where the term was translated into ‘human rights,’ ‘right,’ ‘thugi(通義)’ or ‘civil rights.’ However, the term ‘thugi’ was preferred by the Japanese because it was closer to their religious and moral culture. I hope that the present study will both encourage and facilitate continued enquiry into the various aspects of, and issues relating to, the development of the concept of human rights in early modern Japanese society.