According to arguments made by Rizo TAKEUCHI and Motohisa YASUDA, the rulers at that time, including Emperor Shirakawa and the Sekkan-ke, viewed Yoshiie as a dangerous individual based on the fact that most of the country was divided into shoen (manors).
白河天皇や摂関家など、当時の支配者が義家を危険視したという竹内理三、安田元久の論は、当時の国土のほとんどが荘園となっていたという認識を前提としている。