authority on Japanese lacquer ware.

After graduation in 1893 from the Tokyo Fine Arts School, he toured the provinces with the famous art connoisseur Okakura Kakuzō in search of old art works. He also accompanied Okakura on a study trip to the United States, where he worked at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. In 1907 he visited the art museums of Europe. Later he participated in the excavation of Korean rakurō—artifacts brought to Korea by Chinese conquerors during the Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220). He was elected to the National Art Academy in recognition of the quality of his research on lacquer ware.