Throughout his childhood, he liked mischief and fight over study; although he was sent to terakoya school at age seven, it is said that he could barely write his own name after three years of study.
幼時より悪戯と喧嘩を好み、7歳で寺子屋に預けられたが学業は不振で、3年間の勉学の後も自らの姓名しか書けなかったと伝えられる。