Tokugawa Iesato
Despite his connections to the shogunate, at the Battle of Ueno in 1868 Sakakibara did not participate in the fighting between the pro-shogunate and Imperial forces, considering it to be his duty to guard the Kan'ei-ji temple. He did, in fact, rescue the Imperial Prince Kitashirakawa Yoshihisa (who was at the time the abbot of Kan'ei-ji) from the Shōgitai, physically carrying him away from the combat. Sakakibara subsequently returned to the service of the Tokugawa family as Captain of the Guard under Tokugawa Iesato, whom he served until 1870. After the Meiji Restoration Sakakibara was offered a position with the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, which he refused out of loyalty to Iemochi. He was, however, part of the group of fencers who created the forms for the , the style of sword fighting created in 1868 for use by the police, and he worked briefly as a prison guard at the police headquarters.