In 1202, the year his father died, he became a Kugyo and in 1219 was promoted to Naidaijin (minister of the center), which was then a higher rank than that held by his elder paternal half-brother, Michitomo HORIKAWA.
父が亡くなった建仁2年（1202年）に公卿となり、建保7年（1219年）に内大臣に任じられて、異母兄堀川通具を越して昇進する。