He became a guard in the service of Sanetomi SANJO, who was one of the seven court nobles who was deported to Mitajiri from Kyoto, and acted as an important liaison between restoration activists in Choshu and those spread throughout Japan.
また、三田尻に七卿落ちしていた三条実美の随臣（「衛士」）となり、長州はじめ各地の志士たちとの重要な連絡役となる。