Yamagata in his lifetime was unpopular because he suppressed democratic rights movements, aggressively fomented high treason and unnecessarily trusted the Imperial Court when the certain serious incident occurred.
自由民権運動の弾圧や、大逆事件を積極的に推し進めたこと、宮中某重大事件での宮中への必要以上の容喙等から山縣の人気は生前から低かった。