Moving to Kyushu along with his father, Dogyu was driven into admiration for Western learning, partially because he came nearer to Nagasaki which was the only place to contact with Western civilization at that time.
父に従って九州に移り住んだ道牛は、当時唯一の西洋文明との接点であった長崎に近づいたこともあり、蘭学への憧憬に駆られる。