At the age of 21, he went to Atsuta in Owari, where he began to study waka poetry and kokugaku philosophy. He studied in the Atsuta Shrine under the supervision of the Shinto priest Awata Tomokane. From 1801, Ōhide also began to attend Norinaga's lectures and became one of his students. In 1804, after Norinaga's death, he took up the study of his posthumous legacy, living for several months at his house in Matsusaka.[4]
Ōhide's scholarship focused on classical and medieval monogatari tales and diaries, such as the Ochikubo Monogatari, Kagerō Nikki, and Tosa Nikki. But he was most interested in Taketori Monogatari, for which he wrote the detailed commentary. Ōhide became skilled in courtly arts such as prose writing, poetry composition, and playing the flute and koto.[4]
In 1812, Ōhide completed the first draft of Taketori no Okina no Monogatari Kai. He then submitted it to the attention of Nabunaga's famous students, Suzuki Akira and Motoori Ōhira. After receiving their comments and suggestions, Ōhide revised his work into a final version, which was completed in 1820.[4]
In 1831, a printing block copy of his work was printed. By that time, Ōhide had already gained a well-deserved reputation and had his own students at Gifu and Fukui.[4]
In 1844, Ōhide designed a mechanical bascule bridge for the Ena Shrine [ja].[5] Using medieval gazetteers, Ōhide identified the locations of many rural cemeteries that had been forgotten and fallen into disrepair. He oversaw repairs and reconstruction work on a number of these cemeteries. He also installed a memorial stele at the springs of Tarui [ja], where the ancient hero Yamato Takeru was said to have washed his eyes.[6][7]
Ōhide had a lifelong admiration for Mount Kurai, and in his later years wrote a number of poems about it.[6] He died of illness in 1847 at the age of 71.[3] His jisei is recorded as follows,
Now I lie down to sleep in the pine shadows of Matsumuro, and ask that the eternal green be my friend
今日よりは我まつむろに蔭しめてちよのみどりを友とたのまむ
