Born Sumako Hamaguchi in San Francisco in 1918, she began training in Japanese dance at the age of nine. Traditionally, a Japanese child begins training in dance on the sixth day of the sixth month of her sixth year, but Sumako persisted through many challenging years while training in Japan. A student of Kikugoro Onoe IV, Kansuma studied acting, dancing, kimono dress and etiquette, shamisen and tokiwasu music.