The purpose of this paper is to analyze the theory of personality and cultivation(shuyo) as a science developed by Yujiro Motora (1858-1912), a professor of psychology at the Imperial University of Tokyo, in the early 20th century. At that time, incilinations toward national idealism had become decisive through Tetsugaku-kan incident of 1902. This incident originated from the government's criticisms as anti-nationalist of the liberal theory of motive of British ethicist J.H. Muirhead, one of the most famous ethical theories regarding the modern individual. Motora along with leading scholars of philosophy and ethics, argued in a statement denying the government's points that Muirhead's theory discussed the nationalist and liberal self-formation. However, there was a significant difference between Motora and the others. They praised self-formation based on nationalist idealism centering on the concept of personality and the concept of shuyo for adolescents, whom they called on to become the nation's ideal individuals. Against this, Motora tried to construct the theory of personality and shuyo in empirical psychology. This paper focuses on two theories of his which have not been addressed in previous historical studies of educational thought, and clarifies three points through observing his papers of these theories: The Theory of Motivation(1903), Science and Shuyo(1904), and The Relationship between Religion and Science in Shuyo(1906). First, Motora's theory of personality discusses the psychological effects of personality in harmony with intellect, emotion and will. This is significant in two ways. One is the philosophical and ethical criticism of Kant's idealistic self-formation(autonomy) which focuses only on will. The other is the format of the empirical and scientific discussion of personality. The latter, the empirical and scientific viewpoint, was important in Motoraʻs reference to the issue of uncertainty in precognition in Muirhead's theory of motive. It was in fact inevitable for Motora's construction of empirical and scientific ethics from the perspective of empirical positive psychology. Second, Motora's theory of shuyo shows self-formation in empirically and emotionally understanding knowledge through practical experiences such as interaction with others. There are two key points: his view of knowledge and the background of this theory. Motora argues that there are two types of knowledge: scientific knowledge and philosophical knowledge, both of which can enable reliable predictions with scientific rationality and empirical practicality, and thus overcome the problem of uncertainly in precognition. Also, he constructed this theory against two backgrounds: the criticism of nationalist idealist self-formation and the conflict between scientism and romanticism. Empirical self-formation was the challenge he posed as a new type. Third, Motora's theories of personality and shuyo suggest the existing of self-formation different from the ideal self-formation as the subject in service to the nation and science, as in determinism. In other words, his theory was an attempt to shift from self-formation based on transcendental (non-empirical) ethics such as Kantian ethics to empirical self-formation based on psychology. His attempt was also aimed at building empirical psychology centered on the interrelationship between philosophy and natural science, not scientism (psychologism).