Born in Edo, son of a physician serving Tokugawa Tsunayoshi, then lord of Tatebayashi.
His father was punished and the family moved to Kazusa (Chiba), where for over a decade he studied alone from books.
Back in Edo, he opened a school at Shiba teaching Confucianism.
He entered the service of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, the shogun Tsunayoshi's favourite, and was valued for his learning.
He reportedly advised that the Akō rōnin should be ordered to commit seppuku to uphold the law.
When Yoshiyasu retired, he opened the Ken'en school at Kayabachō, Nihonbashi, advocating kobunjigaku, reading the sages directly through ancient Chinese, and drew many pupils.
Around this time, answering the eighth shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune, he wrote Seidan, a set of proposals for political reform.
He died in Edo.
Tokugawa TsunayoshiYanagisawa YoshiyasuItō JinsaiNishi AmaneTokugawa Yoshimune
Ogiwara ShigehideŌishi Kuranosuke (Yoshio)Ichikawa Danjūrō ITokugawa IenobuAmenomori HoshuŌoka TadasukeTokugawa YoshimuneIshida Baigan
People of the Edo period ・ People by period
Based on facts found in textbooks and biographies. Uncertain points are marked as such.