From the age of 15, he studied Kokugaku (the study of the Japanese classics) and loyalism under Takamasa OKUNI and Kangaku (the study of the Chinese classics), Yomeigaku (doctrines of Wang Yang-Ming) and Chinese poetry under Gesshu IWAGAKI.
15歳頃から大国隆正に国学や勤王を、岩垣月洲らに漢学、陽明学、漢詩などを学ぶ。