The position and the title ultimately came about under the direction of Prince Osakabe, Fujiwara no Fuhito and Awata no Mahito at the request of Emperor Monmu.
Like many other developments at the time, the title was an adaptation derived from the governmental system of China's Tang dynasty.
For example, in 773 (Hōki 4), the daigaku-no-kami was Yamabe-shinnō,[4] who was named Crown Prince and heir of Emperor Kōnin.
[5] However, there were exceptions to this general rule if there was an especially pre-eminent contemporary scholar, such as in the case of Miyoshi Kiyotsura.
In the years which followed, this academic title became hereditary for the ten descendants of Hayashi Hōkō who were sequential heads of the Yushima Seidō.