He was interested in items of western culture, and in his later years he liked to eat bread and drink milk and he enjoyed his interests in photography, fishing, riding the bicycle, microscopy and craft (embroidery). During his tenure as the Shogun, he learned French from Amane NISHI but he gave up on this.
また､西洋の文物にも関心を寄せ晩年はパンと牛乳を好み､カメラによる写真撮影・釣り・自転車・顕微鏡・手芸（刺繍）などの趣味に興じる｡将軍時代には西周(啓蒙家)からフランス語を習ったこともあったようだが、こちらは挫折した。