Idema studied in the sociology department at Hokudai University in 1968. The next year he transferred to the graduate school at Kyoto University, where he studied ancient Chinese literature with Tanaka Kenji.
一九六八年，伊維德先在北海道大學念社會學，第二年又轉入京都大學人文科學研究所，從田中謙二教授學習中國古代文學。