Those retired emperors who withdrew to live in monasteries (in) continued to act in ways intended to counterbalance the influence of Fujiwara regents and the warrior class.
By the end of the 10th century, the Hokke family of the Fujiwara clan held political power in Japan through the office of the Imperial Regent, and the emperor increasingly became little more than a figurehead.
He exerted personal power while the Hokke family was dealing with internal conflicts between Fujiwara no Yorimichi and his brother Fujiwara no Norimichi, and was in a position to issue several laws and regulations, most notably the Enkyū Shōen Regulation Decree, thus weakening the regency.
Although he did not have time to exert power after his abdication, Sanjō had weakened the regency and paved the way for the practice of cloistered rule.
Shirakawa's objective appeared to be the protection of his son from his younger brother (Horikawa's uncle), who presented a serious threat of becoming a pretender to the throne, but after his retirement Shirakawa exerted his personal power to set the cloistered rule system in motion.
Finally, the end of the reign of Emperor Go-Shirakawa was marked by the Genpei War and the rise of Minamoto no Yoritomo as the first Kamakura shōgun.