Due to the talent and intelligence that he had inherited from his father, Shinzei, he was given government positions while still young, serving as Daigaku no Gon no Suke (Provisional Assistant Director of the Bureau of Education) and Togu Gakushi (Teacher of the Classics to the Crown Prince) amongst others and, following the Hogen War in 1156, he was appointed Ushoben (Minor Controller of the Right).
若年より実父信西譲りの才智をもって登用され、大学権助、東宮学士などを経て、保元元年（1156年）の保元の乱の後の除目で右少弁に任官。