This incident is believed to have been a strategy of the bakufu to disconnect powerful supporters from devout Christians in Hirado, under the pretext of a policy of central residence of hostages in Edo under the Sankin-kotai (daimyo's alternate-year residence in Edo) system.
この一件は一見参勤交代制に伴う人質の江戸集住政策に見せかけ、実は熱心な平戸のキリシタンから有力支援者を切り離す幕府の作戦だったと考えられる。