He founded Hoensha, an Igo organization, and supported the Igo world in the Meiji period which had lost patronage from the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), and made the first step to spread and popularize Igo in Western Europe.
江戸幕府の庇護がなくなった明治期に囲碁結社方円社を主宰して囲碁界を支え、さらに西欧にまで広める端緒をつくった。