Go-kenin

Go kenin (Japanese御 家人, Go is a Honorativpräfix, literally: " Honorable House People") was a title of nobility, which was used from the Kamakura period in Japan for direct vassals of the Shogun. Status changed in the centuries that followed until the title to the dissolution of the samurai stand lapsed at the beginning of the Meiji period.

Change in meaning

For the first time the title was used in the Kamakura period. With the end of the Kamakura shogunate, he was in the Muromachi period as a mere social status of warriors, less than the Shogun conferred, official rank. Under the reign of the Ashikaga shogunate the title was not performed. Most administrators (Japanese Jitō ) of the estates were under the guards ( shugo ) of the respective province.

In the Sengoku period, high-ranking subordinates the daimyo were called Go- kenin. From the Edo period, the title referred to the lowest rank of the direct vassals, one rank below the O- memie (Japanese御 目见) and two under the hatamoto ( " Standard Bearer "). Unlike the hatamoto Gokenin were not allowed to shōgunalen audiences.