In 1962 he went to Japan to major in painting at Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba University). Outside of his major, he took graphic design classes from Masato Takahashi, because "At the time I felt that making a living in the arts was very daunting, and it would be best to study something practical in order to make a living," recalls Liao.
1962 年赴日本東京教育大學（現筑波大學）繪畫專攻科進修，課餘，到高橋正人開設的「視覺設計研究所」學平面設計，「當時會去學設計，是自覺學藝術難以謀生，為了生活，最好還是學習一技之長。」