A minor at the time of Hon'inbō Sansa's death, he inherited a difficult situation since he could not receive the official allowance for the house.
Sansa had asked Nakamura Dōseki to act as San'etsu's guardian, and through Dōseki's good offices an annual 30 koku of rice was negotiated.
He played in an international match, giving Peichin Tsuhanoko of the Ryukyu Kingdom a two-stone handicap, when the latter came to Japan with a Ryukyuan embassy in 1634.
[2] The high point of San'etsu's professional career came in a challenge match against Yasui Sanchi.
This biographical article relating to a Japanese Go figure is a stub.