He served Hiroyoshi KIKKAWA, the third lord of Iwakuni domain, and around the age of 17, by order of Hiroyoshi, he went to Kyoto and became a pupil of Shakugo MATSUNAGA.
岩国領3代領主・吉川広嘉に仕えていたが、17歳の頃、広嘉の命により京都に上って、松永尺五に師事。