As his foster father, Gensai, studied Western medicine under Genpaku SUGITA in Edo and had a lot of Western books at home, Choei had strongly become interested in studying since he was young.
養父玄斎は江戸で杉田玄白に蘭法医術を学んだことから家には蘭書が多く、長英も幼いころから新しい学問に強い関心を持つようになった。