In 1582, Sakihisa received the appointment to the post of Daijō Daijin. He resigned the post later that year. In 1585, he adopted Hashiba (later Toyotomi) Hideyoshi. This gave Hideyoshi the Fujiwara legitimacy, clearing the way for his appointment as kampaku.
References
This article is based on 近衛前久, retrieved from the Japanese Wikipedia on July 14, 2007. The Japanese article cites the following references:
Kengo Taniguchi, "Rurō no Sengoku Kizoku Konoe Sakihisa Tenga Ittō ni Honsō Sareta Shōgai" (Chūkō Shinsho, 1994) ISBN 4121012135
Masanobu Hashimoto, "Kinsei Kuge Shakai no Kenkyū" (Yoshikawa Kōbunkan, 2002) ISBN 4642033785