Researcher of Japanese history and geography. Graduate of the Department of History at the Imperial University. He joined the Ministry of Education in 1901 but was suspended after facing criticism as an examiner and editor for revising the government-authorized school textbooks to suggest both the Southern and Northern Court should be legitimate. He later published many papers in magazines and supported the reconstruction theory of Horyu-ji temple when controversy arose about the possible reconstruction of Horyu-ji temple (later, the excavation of the temple proved the reconstruction theory). He also served as a professor at Kyoto Imperial University and a lecturer at Tohoku Imperial University. His research with extensive use of records related to archaeology and folklore studies pushed forward the studies of ancient Japanese history. His notable works include Kokushi no Kyoiku (National History Education) and Horyu-ji Ronko (Discussion on Horyu-ji temple).