There were many outstanding scholars that served for the YANAGISAWA family (Kotaku HOSOI, Sadamiki SHIMURA, Ogyu SORAI, Sozan KURAYAMA, Miki WATANABE, and so on), and among them, he admired Sorai OGYU, and gradually, Nankaku shifted to Kangaku (Chinese classics).
柳沢家には多くの優れた学者（細井広沢、志村禎幹、荻生徂徠、鞍岡蘚山、渡辺幹など）が仕えていたが、このうち荻生徂徠を慕い、やがて漢学に転向する。