He was the legitimate son of the Chigusa family, but since it was a branch of the Iwakura family that didn't have any children, he became an adopted child of Tomoaki IWAKURA and inherited the IWAKURA family.
千種家の嫡男だったが、千種家は岩倉家の分家筋にあたるため、子のない本家の岩倉具詮の養子に入って岩倉家を継いだ。