In the 4th month of Emperor Tenmu's 4th year (675), the Nihon Shoki records that Prince Mino and Saeki no Muraji Hirotari were dispatched to enshrine the wind god at Tatsuta no Tachino, institutionalizing the wind god festival as a state ritual. The Hirose water god festival was established at the same time, and the wind god of Tatsuta and the water god of Hirose became paired pillars of state ritual — the moment when this shrine took its place at the core of religious policy in the ritsuryo state.

The Heian poet Ariwara no Narihira composed 'Chihayaburu kamiyo mo kikazu Tatsutagawa — karakurenai ni mizu kukuru to wa' (Hyakunin Isshu #17), comparing the autumn leaves drifting on the Tatsuta River to crimson tie-dye and marveling that such a scene had never been seen even in the age of the gods. The poem cemented the Tatsuta River as a symbol of court aesthetic beauty and established the area as one of Japan's foremost autumn-leaf destinations.