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Emperor Saga (786-842) supported the relocation of Umemiya Taisha by his consort Empress Tachibana Kachiko and elevated its standing as part of imperial court ritual after the move of the capital to Heian-kyo. Through his consort and his ties to the Tachibana clan, he extended deep reverence to this clan shrine. He laid the foundation for Umemiya Taisha's later inclusion among the lower eight of the Twenty-Two Shrines.

In 822, Emperor Saga made a procession to Togano in Settsu Province and established a temporary palace on this site. After his death, his son Minamoto no Toru founded the Kamino Daijingu in 843 on the same site to enshrine the late emperor — the direct origin of Tsunashiki Tenjinsha. Emperor Saga was a patron of Tang-style culture in the early Heian court, and also an important figure in the rise of the Sugawara clan that produced Michizane. The survival of a shrine to his spirit in modern Umeda speaks to how deeply the cultural network of early Heian Japan extended into Settsu.