From a child, he was fond of paintings, and there is an anecdote that he always spread mud and painted picture with a bamboo stick on a big stone called Unzen no tenarai ishi (Unzen's stone for learning) in a Shinto shrine, returning home with his dirty clothes.
幼少より絵を好み、いつも神社の大きな石（雲泉の手習い石）に泥を塗って竹箆で絵を描いては衣服を汚して帰ったという逸話が残っている。