His father, a clansman of the Mito Domain, worked actively as a royalist on the basis of the thought of Sonno Joi (reverence for the Emperor and the expulsion of foreigners) of 'Mitogaku' (the scholarship and academic traditions that arose in the Mito Domain).
父は、水戸藩士として「水戸学」の尊皇攘夷思想により志士として活躍。