As an inherently enlightened person, he constantly suffered from mental distress, so much that he became ill, working for the Meiji restoration government where the radicals and the conservatives unceasingly struggled for power.
生来開明的であった木戸は、その分、急進派から守旧派までが絶え間なく権力闘争を繰り広げる明治維新政府の中にあっては、心身を害するほど精神的苦悩が絶えなかった。