 In early 1837, he left Edo and made the long journey to Fukuyama to formally enter his domain.This would be the only time that Abe set foot in his domain, as his career as a bureaucrat within the Tokugawa shogunate eclipsed his obligations to return to Fukuyama under the "sankin-kōtai" system.Abe was appointed to the post of "sōshaban" (master of ceremony) on September 1, 1838; on May 15, 1840, he received the post of "jisha-bugyō" (Magistrate of shrines and temples).