He was the sixth son of Yukinori, the nineteenth Kumano betto (title of an official who administered the shrines at Kumano), and his mother was Torii Zenni, the daughter of MINAMOTO no Tameyoshi ('Tatsutahara no nyobo').
19代熊野別当行範の六男で、母は源為義女・鳥居禅尼（「たつたはらの女房」）。