The Senior secretaryship was normally filled by a noble of , but occasionally a fifth rank candidate was appointed. Such an overqualified nobleman may be referred to as , with an example of the expression occurring in The Pillow Book, Things That Give a Vulgar Impression (146), as "A Secretary in the Ministry of Ceremonial who has been raised to the Fifth Rank" (Ivan Morris tr.) Such a nobleman is alternatively called a , with instances in the Imakagami, Ōkagami, Genpei Jōsuiki as well as The Pillow Book, "Hateful Things (14)": "Senior Secretary of the Fifth Rank".
