He underwent Buddhism ascetic practice at Nishi Hongan-ji Temple's gakuryo (where he became a teacher of Inmyo-gaku at the gakuryo later), Yakushi-ji Temple, Kokei-ji Temple in Yamatokoriyama and other temples, and studied Buddhism, Neo-Confucianism, Japanese classical literature, and waka (a traditional Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables) at various places (his father had died before he was born and his mother died when he was six years old).
西本願寺の学寮（後に同学寮因明学教授）、薬師寺、大和郡山の光慶寺等で仏道修行、各地で仏道・朱子学・国学・和歌を学ぶ（父は出生前に他界、母も六歳の時に亡くなった）。