During his stay in Kyoto around the end of the Tokugawa shogunate, his closest friends were Kinjiro IJUIN, who died in the war at Fushimi, Juro KIMOTSUKI, who died in the war in Ueno, and Yaichiro NAGAYAMA, as well as Hiroshi (Oshu) NAKAI, a unique personality, who obtain the petition to transfer power back to the Emperor.
幕末京都時代にもっとも親しかったのは、伏見で戦死した伊集院金二郎、上野で戦死した肝付十郎、そして永山弥一郎だったが、異色の友人として大政奉還建白書に手を入れた中井弘（桜洲）がいる。