Born into a farming family in Hokino village in Musashi (Honjō, Saitama).
He lost his sight to illness as a small child. His memory was so good that he could remember stories read to him after hearing them once.
He went to Edo, joined the guild of the blind and learned massage and acupuncture, but, unskilled at them, he asked his master to let him study instead and was allowed.
Learning by having books read to him, he became a pupil of the National Learning scholar Kamo no Mabuchi.
He resolved to begin the Gunsho Ruijū, collecting and publishing rare old texts scattered across Japan.
He attained kengyō, the highest rank among the blind.
With shogunate support he founded the Wagaku Kōdansho, an institute for the study of Japanese history and literature.
After forty-one years he completed the main series of 530 volumes of the Gunsho Ruijū; its printing blocks survive and are carefully preserved.
He became sōkengyō, head of the guild of the blind, and died that same year.
Maruyama ŌkyoUeda AkinariHayashi ShiheiInō TadatakaShiba KokanTsutaya JūzaburōUesugi YōzanDaikokuya Kōdayū
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.