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A bureaucrat descended from the Kudo family, he entered shogunal service through a maternal connection to Minamoto no Yoritomo. Skilled in mathematics and practical affairs, he served as an officer of the Kumonjo and later, as executive (shitsuji) of the Mandokoro, oversaw the shogunate's finances and documentary administration. Because he built his residence near Yofukuji (also called Nikaido, the "two-storied hall") in Kamakura, he took the name Nikaido and became the founder of the line that bore it. After Yoritomo's death he joined the council of thirteen. The Nikaido continued to hold the office of Mandokoro executive in succession, remaining influential as administrative officials of the Kamakura shogunate.

A steady administrative official adept at numbers and documents, he devoted himself to sustaining the shogunate's bureaucratic machinery rather than seeking the limelight. As one of the founding-era civil officials alongside Oe no Hiromoto and Miyoshi Yasunobu, he contributed to the stability of shogunal administration.

As founder of the Nikaido, his descendants inherited the office of Mandokoro executive and sustained the shogunate's documentary and fiscal administration for generations. The Kamakura place name "Nikaido" derives from the two-storied hall of Yofukuji and survives today, linked to the family name. Yukimasa's historical significance lies in establishing a house of administrative officials.