He is appraised as a pioneer for modernizing the tea ceremony in step with a changing world from the end of the Edo period to the Meiji period, being credited for his innovative ryureishiki style tea ceremony which was specially arranged to welcome foreign visitors to the exhibition held in 1872, and also for his criticism against the general trend to consider tea ceremony as art for amusement, as written in his book "Sado no Gen-i (literally, Root Meaning of the Tea Ceremony.)"
立礼式は明治5年（1872年）の博覧会に際して外国人を迎えるための創案であり、また同じ年に『茶道の源意』を著して茶道は遊芸とする風潮を批判するなど、幕末から明治の変動の時代に合わせた茶道の近代化の先駆として評価されている。