His father, Hiroyo, assisted Sadayo IMAGAWA who was the powerful shugo daimyo in Suo Province (Yamaguchi Prefecture) and served as Kyushu Tandai (local commissioner) after returning to allegiance to the Muromachi bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) from the Southern Court (Japan), in order to defeat the forces of the Southern Court in Kyushu.
父弘世の代に南朝(日本)方から室町幕府に帰順した周防国（山口県）における有力な守護大名で、九州探題を務めていた今川貞世に協力して、九州における南朝の勢力を追討した。