Katsu made personal visits, calling upon those with influence among the commoners in Edo town; this was to acquire the cooperation of the following groups: The township fire fighter organization, the head Tobishoku (a scaffolding man), the Oyakata (stable master) masters of Bakuto (the race of gamblers), and the heads of the Hinin (one group comprising the lowest rank of Japan's Edo-period caste system [often ex-convicts or vagrants]) residences.
町火消組、鳶職の親分、博徒の親方、非人頭の家を自ら回って協力を求めたという。