When Kasuga-taisha Shrine (Nara City, Nara Prefecture) was established in Heijo-kyo (the ancient capital of Japan in current Nara), the Nakatomi clan called on Kashima no Kami for making a branch shrine and made the god its own ujigami (a guardian god or spirit of a particular place in the Shinto religion).
平城京に春日大社（奈良県奈良市）が作られると、中臣氏は鹿島神を勧請し、一族の氏神とした。