Although Nagakazu was originally pro-shogunate, he gradually became more supportive of the new Imperial government, and when the capital of Japan moved from Kyoto to Tokyo in 1868, he provided the security service to Emperor Meiji and to the city of Kyoto.
長和ははじめこそ佐幕派であったが、次第に新政府寄りになり、明治元年（1868年）の東京奠都では、明治天皇の守護と京都警備に務めた。