Mrs. Masu told reflectively about his strictly-controlled past, that he was made to go to take lessons without rest from early morning to evening and went to bed early; it is said that his foster mother boasted that "other children are preserved in sugar, but my child is preserved in sugar containing red pepper."
ます夫人の述懐では、朝早くから夕方まで休みなしで稽古に行かされ、夜は早いうちに寝るという手厳しいもので、義母は「他の子は砂糖漬けだが、うちは同じ砂糖漬けでも唐辛子が入ってあるよ」と自慢していたという。