It was quite small in scale and its immediate aim was only attacking high-ranking government officials who attended the Tochigi Prefectural Government inauguration ceremony: Since the latter half of 1833 of the previous year, the Liberal Party radicals had frequent meetings and were in a direction of strengthening the unity of the like-minded members.
規模はきわめて小規模で、当面の目標も栃木県庁落成式に出席する政府高官への襲撃程度のものであったが、自由党急進派は、前年の1883年（明治16年）後半以降、圧制打倒をめざして頻繁な交流を図り、同志的結合を強めていく傾向にあった。