Beginning in 1184, four years into the Genpei War, he was sent out from Kamakura by Yoritomo, and made his way to the Taira strongholds of Shikoku.

The Taira were pushed back, and the war fell into a lull for about six months, during which Noriyori returned to Kyoto.

However, attempting to push further, he ran into difficulties of a lack of supplies, and the fact that the Seto Inland Sea was controlled by his enemies.

Noriyori finally managed to get rice, other supplies, and a handful of war junks from a local magnate in Suo Province.

In May 1193, when Yoritomo held a grand hunt on Mount Fuji, an incident occurred in which two brothers of the Soga clan killed Kudo Suketsune, an enemy of their father.