Born in Okayama. His father was Masanori (later renamed Akimasa) Ikeda who succeeded to the Ikeda Master Family of the Bizen-Okayama Clan after the Meiji Restoration. In 1882, he went to France to study. In 1890, he married Princess Akiko, the third daughter of Prince Kuninomiya Asahiko. In 1903, he succeeded to the koshaku(marquis).