Maebara Issei (1834-1876) was a samurai from Choshu and, like Kido, a former student of Yoshida Shoin. The parallel careers of Maebara and Kido diverged in 1868 at the time of the Meiji restoration, when Maebara assumed a military command in Echigo province, while Kido became a statesman in the capital. At war's end Maebara held a series of lesser posts: Prefectural governor in Echigao, Vice Minister of War, and Imperial Councilor, or Sangi. Abruptly in 1872 Maebara resigned from office, in protest at the centralizing policies of the new regime, to return to his native Hagi. The tempestuous style of the ex-Imperial Councilor, revealed in chronic personality conflicts in the capital, carried him to leadership fo the dissident samurai in the old Choshu castletown. He articulated the outrage which many felt towards a central government which was depriving them of their hereditary prerogatives and stipends. The brief Hagi Rising, 31 October - 10 November 1867, led by Maebara, collapsed before the Imperial Army. Maebara was captured, tried and pilloried on 3 December 1867.

*From the Diary of Kido Takayoshi, volume 1, pp 242.