Daimyo (大名,
Daimyō, Japanese pronunciation:
[daimʲoː] (
listen)) were powerful Japanese
feudal lords[1] who—until their decline in the early
Meiji period—ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. Subordinate to the
shōgun, and nominally to the Emperor and the
kuge, daimyo were powerful
feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan. In the term,
dai (大) means "large", and
myō stands for
myōden (名田), meaning "private land".
[2]
From the
Shugo of the
Muromachi period through the
Sengoku to the daimyo of the
Edo period, the rank had a long and varied history. The backgrounds of daimyo also varied considerably; while some daimyo clans, notably the Mōri, Shimazu and Hosokawa, were cadet (((((((((((((((((((branches of the Imperial family ))))))))))))))))))))or were descended from the
kuge, other daimyo were promoted from the ranks of the
samurai, notably during the
Edo period.