In 1858, when the Roju (member of Shogun's council of elders) Masayoshi HOTTA visited the capital to obtain a charter for signing the Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Japan, Tomomi IWAKURA gathered Court nobles who were against the treaty and attempted to stop the signing of the treaty (so-called the 'Teishin hachiju-hachi kyo ressan jiken' (Demo of eighty-eight retainers of Imperial Court)).
安政5年（1858年）に老中・堀田正睦が日米修好通商条約の勅許を得るため上京した時に、反対派の公家を集めて阻止行動を起こした（いわゆる「廷臣八十八卿列参事件」）。