He implemented various political reforms during his career: for example, during his term as Sadaijin he reviewed defunct Court practices and observations, viewing them as a deplorable lapse in officials' discipline.

Some scholars have suggested that this was due to his lack of knowledge of Japanese literature and hence of native sentiment – his attitude was at odds with that of the easygoing Heian court.

Bifukumon-In asserted her daughter's right to the Throne, but Japanese society was no longer accepting of a female sovereign, and nothing resulted from the claim.

Go-Shirakawa had the support of the two foremost warrior clans of the day, the Minamoto and the Taira – consequently, his forces vastly outnumbered those of Yorinaga and Sutoku.

This defeat symbolised the true end of the Fujiwara's power over the capital and the rise of the warrior clans.

[4] He had a physical relationship with many aristocratic men such as Fujiwara no Narichika, and recorded it in a diary called the Taiki, a copy of which is held at the Historiographical Institute of the University of Tokyo.