 In 1885, Hōjō graduated from the Mathematics Department, Science Faculty of Tokyo Imperial University.He was hired as a teacher at Ishikawa Prefectural Technical School in his home town of Kanazawa, but returned to Tokyo in 1888 to attend the graduate school of Tokyo Imperial University.In 1894, he became deputy principal of Yamaguchi High School in Yamaguchi Prefecture, becoming principal of the same school in 1896.