His other art names included Hōrai (蓬莱), Kanraitei (観雷亭), Kikyo (箕踞), Shōun (湘雲), Tekkan Dōjin (鉄冠道人) and Tekkanjin (鉄冠人).
He was the eldest son of Gion Jun’an, a doctor who served the Kishū Domain of the Tokugawa clan.
At the age of thirteen, he began to receive instruction from the Confucianist Kinoshita Jun'an and became attached to the group of ten disciples that included Arai Hakuseki and Muro Kyūsō.
At this time, he began to study the art of the Yuan and Ming dynasties and incorporate elements from them into his works.
He was one of the pioneers of nanga (literati painting); passing it along to his students, Yanagisawa Kien and Ike no Taiga.