Taisuke ITAGAKI had the opinion that the kazoku system was against the concept of "equality of all people," and refused two times the offer of conferring the peerage of Hakusahaku in 1887.
また板垣退助も華族制度は四民平等に反するという主張を持っており、明治20年(1887年)に伯爵に叙された際も2度にわたって辞退した。