As an empress after the Restoration, Shoken took the lead in social work promotion and greatly contributed to the establishment of Kazoku Jogakko (present day Gakushuin School Corporation Girl's Division) and Tokyo Joshi Shikan Gakko (present day Ochanomizu University), along with the development of the Japanese Red Cross Society and others (it is said that the official crest for the Red Cross Society, the "Red Cross Kiritake Phoenix," was decided on from the crown, made by a combination of paulownia wood and bamboo, which Shoken happened to be wearing on the occasion she was consulted for the decision of the crest.
維新期の皇后として社会事業振興の先頭に立ち、華族女学校（現学習院女子部）や、お茶の水の東京女子師範学校（現お茶の水女子大学）の設立、日本赤十字社の発展などに大きく寄与した（赤十字社の正式紋章「赤十字桐竹鳳凰章」は、紋章制定の相談を受けた際、皇后がたまたま被っていた冠が桐と竹の組み合わせで出来ていた事から、「これがよかろう」という事で決められたという）。