[2] When the Boshin War broke out in January 1868, Kanbei served the Aizu Domain and participated in the Battle of Toba–Fushimi.

[2] In the Battle of Aizu on August 29, he led about 1,000 elites and was appointed commander of the castle's counter-attack force.

However, he was drunk with the sake he received from his feudal lord the night before the attack, and was defeated late in the sortie, which was still early in the Battle of Chomeiji.

He was redeemed in the Battle of Zaimoku-Cho (Sumiyoshi Kawara) on September 5, when he led a small number of soldiers and defeated the new Imperial Japanese Army and secured food for Aizuwakamatsu Castle.

After the abolition of the han system, he served at the Metropolitan Police Department in 1874 after Chief Kawaji Toshiyoshi praised him for his service during the Boshin War, and was appointed as the First Grand Inspector.