Born in Kochi, the son of a country samurai of the Kochi Clan. In 1853 he became a disciple of Sadakichi Chiba, a master swordsman of the Hokushin-Itto-ryu (martial art style of fencing). He is famous as an excellent swordsman. In 1861 he joined the Tosa Kinno-to formed by Zuizan Takechi. In 1862, he quit the clan and moved up to Edo and became a disciple of Kaishu Katsu and worked hard to construct the Kobe Naval Operations Training School. In 1865, he established a young men's group in Kameyama, Nagasaki (later Kaientai). He devoted himself to the conclusion of the Satsuma-Choshu Alliance and was present at the scene of the compact between Takamori Saigo and Takayoshi Kido in 1866. While moving up to Edo from Nagasaki by sea with Shojiro Goto in 1867, he put together his own political blueprint, "Senchu Hassaku" (Eight plans written on board ship). In the same year he was assassinated in Kyoto together with Shintaro Nakaoka.