Gokenin

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Gokenin (御家人; lit. housemen) appeared as direct vassals of the shogun in Japan during the Kamakura Shogunate. Their status however varied greatly across the ages. After the Kamakura Shogunate, during the Muromachi period, Gokenin was a social status for warriors rather than an official position designing direct vassals of the Shogun. Unlike the Kamakura shogunate, the Ashikaga shogunate did not have Gokenin. Most Jito came under the dominance of the shugo of each province. The direct vassals of the shogunate were called Hōkōshū (奉公衆) instead.

During the Sengoku period, high-ranked subordonates of daimyo were also called Gokenin.

In the Edo period, gokenin were the lowest-ranking direct vassals of the Tokugawa shogunate, next to hatamoto. Unlike hatamoto, gokenin were not allowed to have an audience with the shogun. They basically suffered economic hardships and supplemented their income by moonlighting. In the late Edo period, some gokenin sold the status of gokenin to wealthy commoners by adopting their sons or themselves.

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