Tosa school
He was born in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, as the fourth son of a Japanese restaurant owner. He initially studied Tosa school painting at the "Tōkyō Bijutsu Gakkō" (the predecessor to the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music), under Kobori Tomoto. While in school, his talent was recognized by Okakura Kakuzō who sent him to Nara to study classical paintings in the "Yamato-e" style. While in Nara, he first viewed the ancient murals on the walls of the Kondo chapel of the Buddhist temple of Hōryū-ji, and this was to have a deep impact on his future style of painting.