He took over from FUJIWARA no Nagate, his uncle, as the main line of the Northern House and, unlike his father, who was from a branch family and therefore unable to become a minister, he reached the rank of Udaijin (Minister of the Right), which is one rank higher than that of his father, serving as the head of the government from the early days of Emperor Heizei's reign to the beginning of the reign of Emperor Saga.
伯父である藤原永手系に代わって北家の嫡流となり、傍流ゆえに大臣になれなかった父・真楯より一階級上の右大臣に至り、平城天皇朝～嵯峨天皇朝初期にかけて台閣の首班を務めた。