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Born in Bitchu Province (present-day Asakuchi City, Okayama Prefecture), he studied Dutch learning and medicine in Osaka and Edo, then visited Siebold in Nagasaki to study Western medicine in depth. In 1838 he opened the Tekiteki-juku (later the Tekijuku) in Semba, Osaka, attracting students from across Japan. The Tekijuku produced a great number of people who played active roles in the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras, including Fukuzawa Yukichi, Omura Masujiro, Hashimoto Sanai, Otori Keisuke, and Nagayo Sensai. As a physician he worked to spread vaccination against smallpox and made a major contribution to the eradication of smallpox in Japan. He also wrote and translated many medical texts, including a translation of Hufeland's work, laying the foundations of modern medicine in Japan. Operating simultaneously as educator, physician, and scholar, he planted the foundations of Western modern science in Bakumatsu Japan. In 1862 he was appointed physician to the shogun and transferred to Edo, but died of illness there on August 25, 1863, at fifty-three. The site of the Tekijuku in Osaka (present-day Kitahama, Chuo Ward) is now a designated Important Cultural Property open to the public.

A humble educator and physician with pure passion for learning. His enlightened approach of cultivating outstanding talent regardless of status or origin became a model for human resource development in modern Japan. His medical ethics in devoting himself to patients are also highly regarded.

Through the Tekijuku he made an enormous contribution to developing the human resources of the Bakumatsu and Meiji eras. He saved many lives by spreading vaccination and laid the foundations of modern medicine in Japan. The Tekijuku continues to be spoken of as a fountainhead of knowledge in modern Japan.