In the beginning of the Nara Period (710 – 794), a deity called Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto was moved from Kashima Jingu Shrine (Ibaraki Prefecture) to the top of Mt. Mikasa in Kasuga, Nara, in order to protect the capital Heijo-kyo. A few decades later, in 768, the first shrine structure was built at the present site of Kasuga Taisha by Fujiwara-no-Nagate, one of the national leaders, and other people, according to an order of Empress Shotoku, who was also a relative of the Fujiwara Clan. Adding to the first deity, more deities were enshrined here, including Futsunushi-no-mikoto from Katori Jingu Shrine (Chiba Pref.), Amenokoyane-no-mikoto, supposedly an ancestor of the Fujiwara Clan, and Himegami, both from Hiraoka Jinja Shrine (Osaka Pref.).