In the background how he became the crown prince was that the previous crown princes--his brother Prince Yasuakira and his son, Prince Yoshiyori--died young, thus the mother, Onshi, was afraid of bad spirits and looked after Prince Yutaakira within the layered Kicho (a partition of fabric used during the Heian period).
立太子の背景には、兄保明親王とその子慶頼王の二代にわたる東宮の夭折があり、母后穏子は怨霊を恐れて、幾重にも張られた几帳の中で寛明親王を育てたという。