Hatamoto A was a samurai in the direct service of the Tokugawa shogunate of feudal Japan . While all three of the shogun ates in Japanese history had official retainers , in the two preceding ones , they were referred to as " gokenin . " However , in the Edo period , " hatamoto " were the upper vassals of the Tokugawa house , and the " gokenin " were the lower vassals . There was no precise difference between the two in terms of income level , but hatamoto had the right to an audience with the shogun , where gokenin did not . The word " hatamoto " literally means " at the base of the flag " and is often translated as " bannerman " . Another term for the Edo - era " hatamoto " was , sometimes rendered as " direct Shogunal hatamoto " , which serves to illustrate the difference between them and the preceding generation of hatamoto who served various lords . History . The term " hatamoto " originated in the Sengoku period . The term was used for the direct retainers of a lord ; as the name suggests , the men who were grouped " at the base of the flag " . Many lords had " hatamoto ; " however , when the Tokugawa clan achieved ascendancy in 1600 , its " hatamoto " system was institutionalize d , and it is to that system which we mainly refer today when using the term . In the eyes of the Tokugawa Shogunate , " hatamoto " were retainers who had served the family from its days in Mikawa onward . However , the ranks of the " hatamoto " also included people from outside the hereditary rank s of the Tokugawa house . Retainer families of formerly defeated provincial strongmen like Takeda , Hōjō , or Imagawa were included , as were branch families of feudal lords . Also included were heirs to lords whose domains were confiscate d ( for example , Asano Daigaku , the brother of Asano Naganori ) , local power figures in remote parts of the country who never became daimyo ; and the families of Kamakura Period and Muromachi Period " Shugo " ( Governors ) : some of these include the Akamatsu , Besshō ( branch of the Akamatsu ) , Hōjō , Hatakeyama , Kanamori , Imagawa , Mogami , Nagai , Oda , Ōtomo , Takeda , Toki , Takenaka ( branch of the Toki ) , Takigawa , Tsutsui , and Yamana families . The act of becoming a hatamoto was known as . Many hatamoto fought in the Boshin War of 1868 , on both sides of the conflict . The hatamoto remained retainers of the main Tokugawa clan after the fall of the Shogunate in 1868 , and followed the Tokugawa to their new domain of Shizuoka . The hatamoto lost their status along with all other samurai in Japan following the abolition of the domains in 1871 . Ranks and roles . The line between " hatamoto " and " gokenin , " especially amongst " hatamoto " of lower rank , was not rigid , and the title of " hatamoto " had more to do with rank rather than income rating . In the context of an army , it could be compared to the position of an officer . Throughout the Edo period , " hatamoto " held the distinction that if they possessed high enough rank , they had the right to personal audience with the shogun ( these hatamoto were known as " ome - mie ijō " ) . All " hatamoto " can be divided into two categories , the " kuramaitori " , who took their incomes straight from Tokugawa granaries , and the " jikatatori " , who held land scattered throughout Japan . Another level of status distinction amongst the " hatamoto " was the class of " kōtai - yoriai " , men who were heads of " hatamoto " families and held provincial fiefs , and had alternate attendance ( " sankin kotai " ) duties like the daimyo . However , as " kōtai - yoriai " were men of very high income in terms of the spectrum of " hatamoto " stipends , not all " jikatatori hatamoto " had the duty of alternate attendance . The dividing line between the upper " hatamoto " and the " fudai " daimyo — the domain lords who were also vassals of the Tokugawa house — was 10 , 000 " koku . " Some " hatamoto " could be granted an increase in income and thus promoted to the rank of " fudai " daimyo . However , this did not happen frequently . One example of such a promotion is the case of the Hayashi family of Kaibuchi ( later known as Jozai han ) , who began as " jikatatori hatamoto " but who became " fudai " daimyo and went on to play a prominent role in the Boshin War , despite their domain ' s relatively small size of 10 , 000 " koku . " The term for a " hatamoto " with income in the neighborhood of 8 , 000 " koku " or greater was " taishin hatamoto " ( " greater " hatamoto " " ) . The " hatamoto " who lived in Edo resided in their own private districts and oversaw their own police work and security . Men from " hatamoto " ranks could serve in a variety of roles in the Tokugawa administration , including service in the police force as " yoriki " inspectors , city magistrates , magistrates or tax collector s of direct Tokugawa house land , members of the " wakadoshiyori " council , and many other positions . The expression was in popular use to denote their numbers , but a 1722 study put their numbers at about 5 , 000 . Adding the " gokenin " brought the number up to about 17 , 000 . Famous hatamoto . Famous hatamoto include Nakahama Manjirō , Ōoka Tadasuke , Tōyama Kagemoto , Katsu Kaishu , William Adams , Enomoto Takeaki , and Hijikata Toshizō . Hatamoto and the martial arts . Hatamoto patronized the development of the martial arts in the Edo period ; many of them were involved in the running of dojo in the Edo area and elsewhere . Two hatamoto who were directly involved in the development of the martial arts were Yagyū Munenori and Yamaoka Tesshū . Munenori ' s family became hereditary sword instructors to the shogun . In popular culture . Hatamoto appeared as figures in popular culture even before the Edo era ended . Recent depictions of hatamoto include the TV series " Hatchōbori no Shichinin " , the manga " Fūunjitachi Bakumatsu - hen " , and Osamu Tezuka ' s manga " Hidamari no ki " .