Economist. Born in Yamaguchi. He graduated from the Law Faculty of the Imperial University of Tokyo in 1902, and became an instructor of the practical course at the College of Agriculture of the Imperial University in the following year. After retiring from this post in December 1905, he joined the Shoshin Ito's Mugaen, but broke away the following February. He became an instructor of Kyoto University in 1908 and was promoted to assistant professor in 1909. Following study in Europe from 1913 to 1915, he became a doctor of jurisprudence in 1914, and was promoted to professor in 1915. His writings, "Binbo monogatari" (Tale of Poverty) was serialized in the Osaka Asahi Shimbun newspaper and created a public sensation. In 1928, he retired from Kyoto University. In 1932, he joined the Communist Party, and in 1933, he was arrested and stayed in prison until he was released in 1937. After that, he familiarized himself with Chinese poetry and wrote "Jijoden" (Autobiography). His representative works include "Shihonron nyumon" (Introduction to The Capital) (1928 to 1929) and "Keizaigaku Taiko" (Outlines of Political Economy) (1929).