In the same year, together with Goto, he persuaded the shogun, Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA, to return power to the Emperor to counter the Satsuma and Choshu Domains which insisted to overthrow the bakufu with the use of military power.
同年、後藤とともに将軍徳川慶喜に大政奉還を勧告し、武力討幕派の薩摩藩や長州藩に対抗した。