Scholar of Chinese classics. Father of SAKATANI Yoshiro. He studied Chinese classics from an early age and entered OSHIO Heihachiro's school. After that, he went to Edo to study at Shoheiko, then served as the head of the school. In 1853, he was an educator at Kojokan School, called a goko (educational institution established as a supplement to the hanko in his hometown) until the Meiji Restoration. In 1871, he moved to Tokyo and started working as a government official. He joined the Meirokusha in 1873. He was selected as an elected member of the Tokyo Academy in 1878.