At that time, Haginoya was a waka school attended by the wives and daughters of the former regime's privileged classes - such as court nobles, former roju (senior councilor of the Tokugawa shogunate), and former domain lords - and of the Meiji government statesmen and military personnel.
萩の舎は当時、公家や旧老中・旧藩主などの旧体制、明治政府の特権階級の政治家・軍人の夫人や令嬢らが通う歌塾だった。