Linguist and Japanese language researcher. He became associated with the magazine Myojo established by Yosano Tekkan. He graduated from the Faculty of Language of the Imperial University of Tokyo. He studied Ainu language throughout his life and introduced the Ainu epic poem Yukar to a broader readership. He became a professor at Kokugakuin University, the Imperial University of Tokyo and Waseda University. He also edited many dictionaries including Jikai and Shinsen Kokugo Jiten, and school textbooks such as Chuto Kokugo and Koto Kokugo. In the post-war period, he served on the government’s Japanese language advisory panel from 1952 until 1958 and helped introduce the system of gendai kana zukai (modern kana usage). He was awarded the Order of Culture in 1954 and appointed the head of the Linguistic Society of Japan in 1967. He and Ishikawa Takuboku knew each other since they both went to Morioka Higher Elementary School.