Kake Oba was a reporter of the Osaka Mwinichi and then Osaka Asahi newspapers.Traveled in Europe, North and South America, the South Seas and the Middle East.
In World War I, he accompanied the Russian forces in the eastern front as a war correspondent of the Osaka Asahi. After returning to Japan, he was devoted to writing. In 1919, he became managing editor of the Yomiuri Shimbun and later joined a social movement. Went to Russia (1921) and never returned. There were rumors that he was executed in Siberia.