Tetsunori Okusae was born on August 21, 1940, as the third son of Okusae Iwakichi and Shiyo, who were tofu craftsmen in the Futagogami Muramoto area of Kuroishi City, Aomori Prefecture. In the early days, he made kokeshi dolls in the style of Morihidetaro at the time, as well as kokeshi dolls with topknots and other styles imitating those of Saito Kobei. In the 1960s, he began restoring Morihidetaro's earliest works by Masasueaki. The expression of the mysteriousness of the face was not necessarily sufficient, but for those who were accustomed to the postwar Morihidetaro style with drooping eye corners and drooping eyelashes, this distribution was a fresh shock.
