Kei HARA scornfully explained why Yamagata was unusually obsessed with power and decoration, saying that 'it was because he was a foot solider (in fact he was from a chugen family, which was ranked lower than a foot solider).'
また山縣がもつ異常なほどの権力への執心、勲章好きについて原敬は「あれは足軽（実際は足軽以下の中間を出自とする）だからだ」という一言で述べ、軽蔑の意を込めていた。