He lost his eyesight when he was nine years old, and then studied jiuta (a genre of traditional songs with shamisen accompaniment), sokyoku, and the kokyu under his father, Kengyo the first, and Kengyo FUJITA, and Heikyoku (Heike biwa) under Kengyo OGINO.
九歳で失明し、父である初世吉沢検校、藤田検校に地歌、箏曲、胡弓を、荻野検校に平曲（平家琵琶）を学ぶ。