According to the theory of syncretism of Shinto and Buddhism, it was considered to be the same god as the Emperor Ankan, so that at the time of separation of Buddhism and Shintoism in the Meiji period, many shrines which had enshrined Zao Gongen other than Head Temple Kinpusen-ji Temple determined the Emperor Ankan as Saishin, an enshrined deity.
神仏習合の教説では安閑天皇と同一の神格とされたため、明治時代の神仏分離の際には、本山である金峯山寺以外の蔵王権現を祀っていた神社では祭神を安閑天皇としたところも多い。