People started to think of the emperor as a more god-like figure than before, and for this reason the court poet KAKINOMOTO no Hitomaro wrote a poem saying 'Okimi (the emperor) is a god.'
また、宮廷歌人柿本人麻呂の歌にも「大君は神にしませば」で始まる歌があるように天皇自身の存在もそれまでとは違う神格的な存在となっていった。