Yoshida Shōin
In 1856 Nakamura Michitarō recommended Kusaka to study in Kyushu. He travelled around Kyushu visiting sights and well-known literary figures, and wrote poetry that later appeared in a collected volume. While visiting Kumamoto, the samurai strongly encouraged Kusaka to study under Yoshida Shōin, as had a friend of his brother's for some time. Upon returning to Hagi he wrote Shōin, and with the help of a friend of Shōin's, Tsuchiya Shōkai, applied to study with the master.