This incident had been considered as a suppression of Western learning for a long time even though there were just more than a dozen arrestees, because "Yogakutozenshi" written by Mokichi FUJITA in the Meiji period described this incident in relation with Movement for Liberty and People's Right by parity of reasoning.
また逮捕者十数名とはいえ、これは長らく、蘭学弾圧事件として捉えられてきたが、これは明治期の藤田茂吉『洋学東漸史』が、当時の自由民権運動との類推で事件を捉えたからである。