When he opened a school at the castle town of Hagi, there was a large number of townspeople and retainers of daimyo (Japanese territorial lord) who wanted to participate in the school, so Meirinkan, a han (domain) school established by a daimyo during the Edo period, had to be closed for a while.
萩城下で教授会を開き、町人、藩士が雲集したため、この間、藩校明倫館は休校せざるを得ないほどの盛況であったという。