He was born in Tokyo. His father was a scholar specialising in the Chinese classics and he communicated his enthusiasm to his son, who is known for poetic short stories in distant historical settings.
He was sent to Palau in 1941 to teach Japanese but returned in 1942 after being tormented by severe asthma, and died later that year after contracting pneumonia. He completed one major novel, "Light, Wind and Dreams", based on the life of Robert Louis Stevenson, and controversial short stories about Micronesia.