Nishimura was born in a farmhouse in Kamata village (today a part of Gose, Nara) to a lumber-dealing father. After his father went bankrupt in 1910, Nishimura was entrusted to family relatives in Tokyo and went by himself to live with them.西村眞悟ホームページ─《僕の生い立ち 〜 疾風怒濤前夜 1 〜》 He studied at a French high school in Shanghai. While at Shanghai, Nishimura has said that he considered being baptised, but that he decided against it because he was unable to keep the Ten Commandments.『西村栄一伝―激動の生涯―』492頁
