 In 1915, he entered Tokyo First Junior High School (now Hibiya High School) in accordance with the dying wishes of his father; his classmates included Hideo Kobayashi, future pre-eminent literary critic, and Hisatsune Sakomizu, who would be Chief Cabinet Secretary in 1945.In September 1917, Nishi entered Hiroshima Army Cadet School, a military preparatory school established on Prussian models, and in 1920 took courses at Tokyo Central Cadet Academy.One of his classmates was Masanobu Tsuji, formerly head student of the Nagoya Academy.