After Saigo took over Hakone, a place of strategic importance on the Tokai-do Road, he went back to Shizuoka where he rejected an envoy delivering a petition for reconciliation from Cloistered Imperial Prince Rinojinomiya Kogen (Imperial Prince Kitashirakawanomiya Yoshihisa), and had a meeting with Tesshu YAMAOKA, a vassal of the shogun.
東海道の要衝箱根を占領したのち、西郷は静岡へ引き返し、ここで輪王寺宮公現法親王（北白川宮能久親王）の和解請願の使者を退け、幕臣山岡鉄舟との会談をした。