[3] Tokonami was born January 1866 in Kagoshima, where his father was a samurai in the service of the Shimazu clan of Satsuma Domain.

After the Meiji Restoration, his father moved to Tokyo and served as a judge within the Ministry of Justice, and also was a self-taught oil painter, noted for a portrait painting of Itō Hirobumi, among other works.

While vice-minister, Tokonami arranged a conference between Japanese Shintoist, Buddhist and Christian leaders in February 1912[5] to coordinate efforts towards social work projects and to counter political radicalism.

He also worked towards government intervention in sponsoring negotiations towards rapid resolution of labor disputes through a combination of threats and negotiations supporting labor union activity on one hand, while simultaneously using police powers to control or limit strikes.

However, in 1924, when Kiyoura Keigo became Prime Minister, Takahashi and many other Seiyūkai members rebelled against his non-party cabinet.

[11] Tokonami continued to serve in a leadership role when the Seiyu Hontō and Kenseikai merged to form the Rikken Minseitō in 1927.

However, in August 1928, he formed the Shintō Kurabu, with some 30 former Minseitō members, which cooperated with the Seiyūkai on a variety of issues, including the strengthening of the Peace Preservation Laws.