Two significant incidents during his childhood awakened his interest in Western culture: the 1970 World's fair in Osaka, and the instructions in Western painting by the artist Kakuichi Shikawa.
Zwei wesentliche Ereignisse in seiner Kindheit weckten sein Interesse an der westlichen Kultur: Die Weltausstellung in Osaka 1970 sowie die Unterweisungen in westlicher Malerei durch den Künstler Kakuichi Shikawa.