 After the Meiji Restoration, he was recalled to secular life, and relocated to Tokyo in 1871.In 1874, on orders from Emperor Meiji, Prince Arisugawa enrolled in the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy.In 1877, despite his youth, he was sent as an observer to the Satsuma Rebellion, to observe the devastation first hand, and landed in Kagoshima shortly after it was secured by Imperial forces.