Toda was born in 1900, the eleventh son of a fisherman's family in the coastal village of Shioya, in modern-day Kaga, Ishikawa, off the Sea of Japan. In 1904 his family moved to Hokkaido, settling in the fishing village of Atsuta. From the age of 15 he worked his way through school, earning certification first as a substitute primary school teacher at age 17 then, three years later, as a full-time primary school teacher. In 1920 he moved to Tokyo where he met Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, an elementary school principal, who was to become his mentor. He taught for Makiguchi until 1922, after which he opened a private school and tutored students preparing for their middle-school entrance exams.