In January 1858, Hayashi Akira, the hereditary "Daigaku-no-kami" descendant of Hayashi Razan, headed the bakufu delegation that sought advice from the emperor in deciding how to deal with newly assertive foreign powers. This was the first time the Emperor's counsel was actively sought since the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate. The most obvious consequence of this transitional overture was the increased numbers of messengers which were constantly streaming back and forth between Tokyo and Kyoto during the next decade. In the 19th century, this scholar-bureaucrat found himself at a crucial nexus of managing political change, moving arguably "by the book" through uncharted waters with Razan's well-settled theories as the only guide.