The North-South commotion was the impetus for his leaving the Kodokan school in 1855; he was allowed to return thereafter but he rejected the offer, studying Japanese literature and culture afterwards under Shinyo EDAYOSHI instead.
安政2年（1855年）に、弘道館を南北騒動をきっかけに退学、後に復学を許されたが戻らず、この頃、枝吉神陽から国学を学ぶ。