He came into contact with Christianity when he went to Tokyo to study at Shubunkan and the preparatory school run by James Hamilton Ballagh.

Soon he decided to become an evangelist, studying at Brown Preparatory School and Icchi Shin Gakko (United Seminary).

Defying the influence of theological liberalism, he, as a professor at Meiji Gakuin, worked to solidify a faith with the above doctrine as its core.

In addition, as one of the founders of Tokyo Shingakusha (seminary), he took on the responsibility of the theological education and training of evangelists.

His contributions in the areas of Bible translation (into Japanese), hymn editing, literary criticism, and English literature are also of note.