Started his training on the 6.6 when he was 6 (CQ75). He was quite frail as a child (CQ76). Went to a Christian school. 5th dan in 柔道, and likes horse-back riding. Took German in high school (saying it's less effeminate than French), likes Herman Hesse and 島崎 藤村（とうそん しまざき）, a naturalist Japanese writer. He enlisted as a hydroplane flier when the war came (1943) (CQ80), but only got accepted to reconnaissance.
Doesn't drink coffee on principle (CQ71).