Ochiai Uichi also known as Chiyozuru the third. Born in Mishima, Shizuoka prefecture in Meiji 28 (1895), when he was 13 years old, he started an apprenticeship under Munetsugu who belonged to the blacksmith lineage of Kunihiro. Munetsugu at that time was known to be the most skilled kanna and nomi blacksmith in the Kanto region (a wider area surrounding Tokyo). In Taisho 5 (1916), he joined the Navy. Uichi had a very poor education not even graduating from elementary school.