After the Fujiwara no Nakamaro Rebellion, Kōken came to the throne again as Empress Shōtoku, and Dōkyō became Daijō-daijin and then Hōō, and wielded great power.

In 748 he is recorded as being at the Todai-ji under Rōben, and in 749 he participated in a sutra copying ceremony in Nara, and was called to Kōken's court three years later.

[2] When Dōkyō cured the illness of Kōken in 761, after she had abdicated in 758, he attained a secure and influential place in her court; she initially regarded him as her healer and spiritual adviser, before turning to him for political advice as well.

Fujiwara no Nakamaro, a favorite of the Junnin and Chancellor, was angered by this decision but failed in his attempt to oppose Dōkyō - he was exiled.

When Kōken returned to the throne as Empress Shōtoku following Fujiwara no Nakamaro's unsuccessful rebellion, Dōkyō was made daijō-daijin within a year, giving him authority over both civil and religious affairs.

Laws were issued banning the raising of dogs and hawks for hunting, and meat and fish were disallowed from presentation to the emperor's table.

When the empress died in 770, Dōkyō was stripped of his titles and banished from Nara, sent to Shimotsuke Province; the Fujiwara clan reasserted its authority over both the monastic institutions and the broader political landscape.