Diplomat. Following his father, he went to Hakodate, and studied classical Chinese and Western studies before becoming a tsuben goyo (translator of shogunate official business). He joined the Bunkyu Mission to Europe in 1863. After the Meiji Restoration, he accompanied the Iwakura Mission in 1871, and later worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he poured his energy into the negotiation of the treaty revision under INOUE Kaoru, the Foreign Minister.