After he studied at Hitsuyudo (a private school operated by the Yoneda family, a chief retainer of the Kumamoto Domain) and the Kumamoto Domain's school named Jishukan, he traveled to Edo and Nagasaki to study, and he also studied at Kaisei School in 1870.
必由堂(熊本藩家老である米田家の家塾)、熊本藩の藩校の時習館で学び、江戸や長崎へ遊学し、明治3年（1870年）には開成学校で学ぶ。