The neutral stance that Saigo and others took during this incident was only to defend the Imperial Court from exclusive possession by the Choshu, and gave guidance to Imperial Court to the neutral position, but it caused many casualties in the Choshu force, and among them were Matabe KIJIMA, Genzui KUSAKA and Izumi MAKI, and this aggravated the Choshu dislike of the Satsuma, and caused the events known as the 'Satsukan-kaizoku (retaliation against the Satsuma and Aizu Domains)'.
この事変で西郷らがとった中立の方針は、長州や幕府が朝廷を独占するのを防ぎ、朝廷をも中立の立場に導いたのであるが、長州勢からは来島又兵衛・久坂玄瑞・真木和泉ら多く犠牲者が出て、長州の薩摩嫌いを助長し、「薩奸会賊」と呼ばれるようになった。