However, Sanesuke, who served as Chunagon (vice-councilor of state), alone refused to write a poem despite repeated requests by Michinaga, claiming that it was unheard-of for a court official to be ordered by a minister to write a poem for a folding screen.
このとき、中納言であった実資だけは「大臣の命を受けて、その屏風に歌をつくるなぞ、未だに前聞なし」と言って、道長から何度催促されても歌を献じるのを拒んだ。