It is said that he at first learned the tea ceremony from Shogen SATO, a vassal of Sansai, and then he became the disciple of Sansai himself, and eventually started his own school upon receiving the permission from his master.
しかし始めは三斎の家臣の佐藤将監に茶を学び、のちに三斎についたとされ、許しを得て一派を興したという。