, first son of regent Matsudono Motofusa, was a Kugyō

Kugyo

is the collective term for the very few most powerful men attached to the court of the Emperor of Japan in pre-Meiji eras. The kugyō was broadly divided into two groups: the , comprising the Chancellor of the Realm, the Minister of the Left, and the Minister of the Right; and the , comprising the...

(high-ranking Japanese official) of the late Heian

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 and Kamakura period

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

s.

Despite being first-born, he was treated as if he were not, while his stepbrother Moroie

Matsudono Moroie

, third son of Matsudono Motofusa, was a kugyo from the late Heian period to the early Kamakura period. Regent Fujiwara no Tadataka and Buddhist monks Gyōi and Jituson are his stepbrothers....

 inherited the male-line. Hence, he called himself , avoiding the use of the name Matsudono. In 1220, just before the Jōkyū War

Jokyu War

', also known as the Jōkyū Disturbance or the Jōkyū Rebellion, was fought in Japan between the forces of Retired Emperor Go-Toba and those of the Hōjō clan, regents of the Kamakura shogunate, whom the retired emperor was trying to overthrow....

, he retired from politics, becoming a Buddhist monk.

In recent years scholars has suspected that he is actually the author of .