The oldest example of the Jogakuso is said to be a system adopted in the Tenpyo era of the Nara period (in 741), whereby the jogaku of 20 Buddhist priests and 10 Buddhist nuns were introduced to "kokubunji" (a status of the state-supported provincial temples) and "kokubun-niji" (nunnery temple) of each province, respectively.
最古の例は奈良時代の天平13年（741年）に諸国の国分寺に対して僧20、同じく国分尼寺に対して尼10の定額を設定した例とされている。