 At around the age of ten, he was sent to live at Daitoku-ji temple, through the wish of his grandfather, Rikyū.He lived at the sub-temple Sangen'in, under the supervision of the priest Shun'oku Sōen.During the years following Rikyū's death, when the Sen family was disbanded and Sōtan's father found shelter with the "daimyō" Gamō Ujisato in distant Aizu Wakamatsu, Sōtan was able to stay safely at Daitoku-ji temple.