Soon after he was appointed as the fifth chief priest of 'Hongan-ji Temple' in 1390, he entrusted the practical running of the temple to his second son Gyonyo who was his hoshi (successor to an abbacy) in order to build and live in a soan (a hermitage built with a simple structure with a thatched roof) in Sugitani of Ecchu Province.
康応2年/明徳元年（1390年）、「本願寺」を継承し第五世になるも、まもなく寺務を法嗣である第2子の巧如に委任し、越中国杉谷に草庵を結び居所とする。