Some say that in the latter half of the Heian period, for the purpose of maintaining domestic security, kokushi (provincial governors) would appoint an influential local warrior to be Kokushugonin (Shugonin), province bakufu officer, and based on that it is thought that the Kokushugonin of the late Heian period was the origin of the Kamakura period Shugo.
平安時代後期において、国内の治安維持などのために、国司が有力な在地武士を国守護人（守護人）に任命したとする見解があり、これによれば平安後期の国守護人が鎌倉期守護の起源と考えられている。