He was born in the village of Izushi-gun in Hyōgo and in the Diet represented the rural Tajima area.

However, he was a conservative who did not object on principles to the Meiji order and the military, and he opposed state intervention in economic matters unlike those with fascist or socialist tendencies.

On 2 February 1940, he made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China, and he stressed the importance of political pragmatism over idealism and lofty notions.

Many of those who opposed him were reformists and progressives like Inejirō Asanuma, who would later become a prominent Japan Socialist Party leader.

His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe, who was his main target.