When the period of the Emperor Heijo started, in order to reconstruct the devastated politics in rural areas under the new emperor, Kansatsushi (a visiting observer system) was founded led by Otsugu and FUJIWARA no Sonohito and, thereby, a new system was introduced in which highly ranked officials of the central government directly supervised the operation of politics in each area.
平城天皇の時代に入ると、新帝のもとで荒廃する地方政治の再建のために緒嗣や藤原園人を中心に観察使制度を設けて、地方政治の運営を中央政府の高官が直接監視する新制度を導入した。