 He was a disciple of Kōno Bairei of the Maruyama-Shijō school of traditional painting.In 1882, two of his works received awards at the "Naikoku Kaiga Kyoshinkai" (Domestic Painting Competition), one of the first modern painting competitions in Japan, which launched him on his career.During the Exposition Universelle in Paris (1900), he toured Europe, where he studied Western art.