There is a famous anecdote related to this occasion as follows: to the Retired Emperor Goshirakawa, who said to him 'As you were living a country life, you have forgotten music, haven't you?' he replied reciting a verse of imayo (popular style of song in Heian period) that originally reads, 'The river along the Kisoji Road which is supposed to be in deep Shinano,' by changing it slightly as, 'The river along the Kisoji Road which surely exists in deep Shinano,' (recorded in "Jikkinsho" [Miscellany of Ten Maxims], "Heike Monogatari" [The Tale of the Heike], etc.).
その際、後白河院に「田舎住まいで音曲など忘れただろう」という問いに対して、「信濃にあんなる木曽路河」という今様を「信濃に有し木曽路河」と謡い替えた逸話は有名（『十訓抄』『平家物語』などに記載）。