Immediately after the succession, he crushed a coup plot by former shōgun Kujō Yoritsune and Tokiyori's relative Nagoe Mitsutoki.

In 1252, he started to make policies at private meetings held at his residence instead of discussing at the Hyōjō (評定), the council of the shogunate.

Tokiyori invited Lanxi Daolong, a monk from Southern Song Dynasty, to construct Kenchō-ji temple.

[2] There are a number of legends that Tokiyori traveled incognito throughout Japan to inspect actual conditions and improve the lives of the people.

[3] In 1256, Tokiyori became ill, and consequently he surrendered the regency to his relative, Hōjō Nagatoki, whereupon he became a priest and called himself Meigetsuin Nyudo.