He was given official commendation as someone who has performed special service in the field of culture and an honorary citizen of the Tokyo Metropolitan District.
He was born on April 3, 1913, at his mother's home in Morikawa-cho, Hongo Ward, Tokyo City (now Hongo 6-chome, Bunkyō Ward, Tokyo Metropolitan District), as the eldest and only son of Shizue (née Hayashi) and noted linguist and expert on the Ainu language Kyōsuke Kindaichi.
When their son was born, his father had lost his job as a proofreader of the Sanseidō encyclopaedia, so his family was in dire economic straits.
His father eventually worked as a professor at Tokyo Imperial University.
He went on, like Susumu Ōno, to become a familiar public intellectual, appearing often on radio and television to discuss linguistic issues.