Tsao devoted his free time to research and was an internationally respected scholar by the time he reached his 30s. But it was becoming Seiichi Iwao's student that most benefited and influenced him.
工作之餘勤讀史料做研究，三十多歲就成為國際間頗有名氣的學者，但讓曹永和受益最深、影響最大的，則是受業於岩生成一博士。