When the Meiji period began, people no longer took interest in tea ceremony which was dismissed as a thing of the past and, in addition, with the great patronage of the Kishu clan being lost, tea ceremony as well as the iemoto system was confronted with a life-or-death crisis.
明治時代になると、茶道は旧時代の遺物として全く顧みられなくなり、かつ、紀州藩の手厚い庇護もなくなり、茶道・家元制度ともに存亡の危機に立たされた。