Understanding that the Emperor Komei was worried about the emergence of sonjo party and the resulting confused political circumstances of the imperial court and of the shogunate, Imperial Prince Kuninomiya Asahiko secretly ordered the Aizu and Satsuma clans to expel the Choshu clan.
尊攘派の擡頭により朝廷・幕府政治の混乱が起きていることを憂えた孝明天皇の意をくみ、久邇宮朝彦親王は極秘に会津藩・薩摩藩に長州藩の追放を命ずる。