The first difficulty that Katamori faced after taking office was the unfamiliarity of the locals with Aizu and its ability to get the job done. Aizu was so unfamiliar to many people in early 1863 that many of them pronounced its name "kaizu" or "kwaiz", with both "ai" and "kai" being common readings of the first character in "Aizu" . This issue of unfamiliarity and unease began to have some resolution in the early months of 1863, when Katamori was formally received at the Imperial court. The court nobles were very pleased to see his arrival, and had great hopes for him as an agent of the "Kōbu gattai" () movement to promote renewed cooperation between the Court and the Shogunate. In order to achieve the objectives that the "Shugoshoku" position entailed, Katamori made use of city patrol units, some of them made up of his own retainers, but others consisting of hired, previously lordless men, such as the "Shinsengumi". Other groups emerged in subsequent years, including the "Mimawarigumi", which was under the control of the "Shoshidai" (which as of 1864 was Katamori's brother Matsudaira Sadaaki of Kuwana). Katamori took his role as protector of Kyoto (and the Court) very seriously, and thus played a large role in the coup d'état of September 30 (or the coup d'état of August 18), and the Kinmon incident (), which both involved clashes between the allied forces under Shogunate command (including Aizu) against the men of Chōshū Domain. During the punitive First and Second Chōshū expeditions, he also advocated a hard line against the domain. These events lead to increased animosity against Katamori and Aizu Domain within the Chōshū Domain.