Son of a samurai of the Kanazawa clan. He graduated from the Department of Mathematics of the Faculty of Science of University of Tokyo in 1885 and became teacher at the Ishikawa prefecture professional school. He became teacher of the Fourth Higher School in 1888. Kitaro Nishida and Daisetsu Suzuki were his pupils at the time. He served as teacher of the First Higher School and professor of Yamaguchi Higher Middle School before he became the principal of Yamaguchi Higher School in 1896. He served also as the president of the Fourth Higher School in 1898 and the principal of Hiroshima Higher Normal School in 1902. He assumed the presidency of Tohoku Imperial University in 1913. He became president of Gakushuin in 1917 and resigned from the post in 1920. He was appointed as court councillor the same year and became a member of the House of Peers.