There is an anecdote that Kinmochi was not good at playing the biwa Japanese lute, which should have been the family business of the Saionji Family, and during Kinmochi's time in office as prime minister, the Emperor Meiji said out of mischief to Kinmochi, "For the first time in a long while, I would like to listen to biwa Japanese lute," and therefore he was forced to play the biwa Japanese lute in dire distress together with the officials of Utaryo in the Imperial Household Ministry.
ちなみに公望は、西園寺家の家業である筈の琵琶の演奏が苦手であったが、首相在任中に明治天皇から悪戯半分に「久しぶりに西園寺家の琵琶が聞きたい」と言われ、宮内省の雅楽寮の職員と琵琶の共演をさせられて四苦八苦したというエピソードが伝わっている。