Receiving favors from FUJIWARA no Kaneie, his elder bother-in-law, he was promoted next to Kaneie's children as a maternal relative of the new emperor, being appointed to Sangi (a councilor) and becoming a kugyo in 987.
義兄・藤原兼家の引き立てで、新帝の外戚として兼家の子供たちに次ぐ昇進を遂げ、永延元年（987年）に参議に任命され公卿に列した。