When a fire occurred in Yamagata Prison, misinformation that Mutsu was burnt to death circulated; however, once the information was discovered to be false, in 1878 Hirobumi ITO employed every possible means to have Mutsu transferred to Miyagi Prison, which had the best facilities at the time.
山形監獄が火災にあったとき、陸奥焼死の誤報が流れたが、誤報であることがわかると、1878年伊藤博文が手を尽くして当時もっとも施設の整っていた宮城監獄に移させた。