He served and worked for Heike, but he was referred to by the name of the Taira clan as he was exiled from the capital; he was from the Fujiwara clan in Ise Province (the Ito clan), a descendant of FUJIWARA no Hidesato.
平家に仕えて戦い、都落ちに従ったため俗に平氏姓で呼ばれているが、藤原秀郷の子孫の伊勢国藤原氏（伊藤氏）である。