He sent Nobuhiro, his real younger brother, to Kyoto after observing the defeat of the former Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) army in the Battle of Toba and Fushimi and the circumstances after that.
鳥羽・伏見の戦いにおける旧幕府軍の敗北やその後の情勢を見極めて、実弟信及を上洛させた。