After his father, who was a lower-rank official of the inner palace (ooku) guard (hiroshikiza), was exiled to Tokunoshima Island and expropriated his hereditary stipend of five koku (approx. 902 liters) when he was around ten years old, he helped the elder brother, but after the death of the elder brother when he was eighteen years old, he supported the family through tenant farming and land reclamation.
10歳頃、広敷座の下僚であった父が徳之島に流罪に処せられ、家禄5石を召し上げられたのちは兄を助けていたが、18歳のときに兄の病没後は小作や開墾畑で家計を支えた。