Bunrei liked painting since childhood and studied brushwork of the Kano School under the painters in Kano of Kobiki-cho, (first Tsunenobu KANO, later Chikanobu KANO) while training the martial art.
幼少より画を好み、武道の修練の傍らに木挽町狩野の画家（狩野常信のちに狩野周信）について狩野派の画法を学ぶ。