He was insightlful in reading people's physiognomy, and when he learned that FUJIWARA no Akinobu, FUJIWARA no Michinaga's third son, wished to marry his daughter, he declined the proposal on the ground that Akinobu had the physiognomy of entering the priesthood (his daughter married Yoshinobu, Akinobu's younger brother).
人相を見るに見識があり、藤原道長の三男藤原顕信が自身の娘との結婚を望んでいることを知ると、顕信に出家の相が出ているとしてこれを断った（娘は顕信の弟能信と結婚）。