Kuroji KAWASAKI, a homeless wanderer who had originally been a peasant in Hachioji Village (present-day Tsubame City), and others started distributing Otoshibumi (letters dropped in the road: fliers) in the watershed area from around March 1872 encouraging people to rally against the construction.
元八王寺村（現燕市）農民の無宿者、川崎九郎次らは、1872年（明治5年）3月頃より流域に分水工事反対の決起を呼び掛ける落し文を行っていた。