 After education at the domain academy, he went to Edo in 1861 for further studies, and to Osaka in 1863.Following the Meiji Restoration, in 1870, he returned to his native Tokushima, where he obtained a position as a bureaucrat within the prefectural office, and also serving as a legal councilor.He was soon (in 1871) recruited into the central government, moving to Tokyo for a position within the Ministry of Justice.