He served as a guard for the Emperor Shirakawa during his imperial visits and suppressed rebelling Mount Hiei monks, but after becoming Mutsu no kuni no kami (the governor of Mutsu Province), he interfered in the internal conflict of the Kiyohara clan, triggering the Later Three Years' War which, although he sought official post-war consent, was declared 'a private feud' by the court.
比叡山等の強訴の頻発に際し、その鎮圧や白河天皇の行幸の護衛に活躍するが、陸奥国守となったとき、清原氏の内紛に介入して後三年の役を起こし、朝廷に事後承認を求めるが、朝廷は「私戦」として官符を下さなかった。