Although he joined the First Ito Cabinet as the first minister of Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce in 1885, he criticized the cabinet's policy of Europeanization (the Foreign Minister at the time was Kaoru INOUE) as a member of the Kokken faction (a group advocating a state's right vis-a-vis foreign powers) in the cabinet, and he resigned because of the treaty revision issue.
明治18年（1885年）第1次伊藤内閣の初代農商務大臣に就任するが、閣内の国権派として伊藤内閣の欧化政策（当時の外相は井上馨）を批判し、条約改正問題で辞任した。