After Emperor Antoku was taken away to the western area of Japan by the Taira family, Imperial Prince Koreaki became one of the strong candidates for the next emperor, but his younger brother Imperial Prince Takahira (later Emperor Gotoba) eventually succeeded to the throne because Koreaki's mother was not nobly born and his maternal grandfather was already dead, and moreover, their grandfather Cloistered Emperor Goshirakawa liked Imperial Prince Takahira better.
安徳天皇が平家に連れられて西国に落ちた後、皇位継承の有力者であったが母親の身分が低く、かつ外祖父が死亡していた事、弟の尊成親王（後の後鳥羽天皇）の方が祖父の後白河法皇に可愛がられていた事から、皇位は尊成親王が継ぐ事になった。