In the last years of the Edo period, the family approached the Imperial forces from the early stage, helping in the suppression of the Tenchu-gumi (royalist forces) War and in the repair of the Imperial mausoleum.
幕末期では天誅組の反乱鎮圧や天皇陵の修築工事を行なうなど、早くから官軍に近づいていた。