Son of a retainer of the shogun. He graduated from the Harvard University in 1874. After serving at the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Justice, he moved to the Ministry of Finance in 1883. As the director-general of the Tax Bureau from 1894, he was in charge of developing the taxation system after the Sino-Japanese War. He was selected as a member of the House of Peers by Imperial command in 1904. From the same year, he reorganized the overall monetary and fiscal system of Korea as financial advisor to the Korean Government and as the chief fiscal auditor of the Resident General of Korea in 1907. He was knighted danshaku (baron) the same year. He went to United States as the chairman of special envoy of fiscal and financial representatives of the Imperial Japanese Government in 1917. He was appointed privy councillor in 1923.