Because he entered Kan'ei-ji Temple for disciplinary confinement as soon as the New Government designated him as the Imperial Court's enemy, he was considered as a reasonable man who respected the Emperor and the Imperial Court (perhaps this was due to the teaching of Mito-han [Clan] that highly respected the Emperor and also to the fact that his mother was from the Imperial Family); however, on the other hand, he was also called weak-kneed because as the lord of his people, he was not able to stand resolutely in the face of the enemy.
新政府から朝敵とされるや否や、寛永寺に謹慎した事などから、天皇や朝廷を重んじる心ある者だと評価される（尊王思想である水戸学や、母親が皇室出身であることなどが多分に影響していると思われる）が、一方で、主君として敵に毅然とした対応を示さなかったため、「弱腰」とも言われた。