He was famous as the author of "Sawa Shigetsu Shu" (tea ceremony book), and as he was a pupil of SEN no Sotan in the beginning, he is sometimes counted as one of Sotan's four best students.
『茶話指月集』の著者として有名であり、はじめは千宗旦の門人であったことから、宗旦四天王の一人に数えられることもある。