When the Yamauchi clan entered the Tosa Province, retainers and followers of the Chosokabe clan, which had ruled the Tosa Province by then, were designated as Goshi, and retainers of the Yamauchi clan from the early age as Joshi; this is the beginning of this classification.
山内氏の土佐入封時、それまで土佐を支配していた長宗我部氏の家臣団や郎党らを郷士とし、それ以前からの山内家家臣らを上士としたのが始まり。