When MINAMOTO no Yoritomo rose an anti-Heishi (anti-Taira clan) army in September 1180, he and his father, Michikiyo, locked themselves in the headquarter castle, Takanawayama-jo Castle in Kazahaya County, Iyo Province (located in present-day Hojo City, Ehime Prefecture), in concert with such rising and expelled mokudai (deputy kokushi, or a deputy provincial governor) of TAIRA no Koremori in 1181.
治承4年（1180年）8月に源頼朝が反平氏の兵を挙げると、それに呼応し治承5年（1181年）に父通清と共に本拠の伊予国風早郡高縄山城（愛媛県北条市）に拠って平維盛の目代を追放した。