At this time, KIBI no Makibi and Genbo, who visited Tang China on the previous vessels, agreed to return to Japan, but ABE no Nakamaro refused to do so because he had passed the kakyo (examinations for Chinese state bureaucrats) and taken the government post there.
この時、前回渡唐した吉備真備や玄ボウは帰国に応じたが、阿倍仲麻呂は科挙に合格して唐の官職に就任しており、帰国しなかった。