"The Establishment and Development of the Ise Taira Clan" (Taira Clan at Ise Province) published in 1975 by Masaaki TAKAHASHI who wrote in detail that they were low to middle class officials of hoefu (a collective name of soldiers in the Imperial Guard) in public, and were private 'samurai' of high class aristocrats and were a type of captain of mercenaries.
髙橋昌明は、1975年の『伊勢平氏の成立と展開』において、彼らが公的には諸衛府の官人、私的には高貴な貴族の「侍」、世間的には一種の傭兵隊長であったことを、資料に基づき詳細に明にした。