In those days, as his family, the house of the mayor, might have become ruined in the confusion after the collapse of Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), he was fostered by a family that owned a secondhand shop (or in another opinion, a vegetable store) in Yotsuya immediately after birth; however, his sister felt pity for him, who was left sleeping among the goods until late at night, and took him back home.
当時は江戸幕府崩壊後の混乱期であり生家は名主として没落しつつあったのか、生後すぐに四谷の古道具屋（一説には八百屋）に里子に出されるが、夜中まで品物の隣に並んで寝ているのを見た姉が不憫に思い実家へ連れ戻した。