Hagami was originally a professor of German philosophy at Taisho University and in turn served as a journalist for the Sanyo Shimbun. However, the untimely death of his wife as well as the defeat of Japan at WWII triggered him to pursue religious life, whereby to help Japan restore itself from the postwar devastation. In 1946, he entered the Buddhist monastery at Mount Hiei, the headquarters of the Tendai school and the Mother Mountain of Japanese Buddhism.