After learning Chinese (herb) medicine which was his family business, he went to Tokyo at the age of 20 and became the disciple of Sajuro BABA, the translator of Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) to study Dutch.
家業の漢方医学を修得したのち、20歳で江戸に出て江戸幕府通詞馬場佐十郎に弟子入り、オランダ語を学ぶ。