The family was criticized by the samurai and common people of Edo who would say that 'The flowing water (Mizuno) of Hosokawa is clean but the open water (Matsudaira, Governor of Oki Province) of the ocean (Mori, Governor of Kai Province) is turbid' (a satirical tanka poem of the time).
「細川の　水の（水野）流れは清けれど　ただ大海（毛利甲斐守）の　沖（松平隠岐守）ぞ濁れる」（当時の狂歌）と江戸の武士や庶民からは批判された。