He was influenced by his mother, and immersed himself in literature of the Edo period such as Yomihon (books for reading), Kusazoshi (books with a wealth of illustrations), as well as Haikai (seventeen-syllable verse) and Waka (classical Japanese verse) at an early age.
母の影響を受け、幼くして読本・草双紙などの江戸文学や俳諧、和歌に親しむ。