Gokenin A was initially a vassal of the shogunate of the Kamakura and the Muromachi periods . In exchange for protection and the right to become " shugo " ( governor ) or " jitō " ( manor ' s lord ) , in times of peace a " gokenin " had the duty to protect the imperial court and Kamakura , in case of war had to fight with his forces under the shogun ’ s flag . From the middle of the thirteenth century , the fact that " gokenin " were allowed to become " de facto " owners of the land they administered , coupled to the custom that all " gokenin " children could inherit , brought to the parcelization of the land and to a consequent weakening of the shogunate . The " gokenin " class ceased to be a significant force during the Muromachi period and was supplanted by the figure of the daimyo . During the successive Edo period , the term finally came to indicate a direct vassal of the shogun below an , meaning that they did not have the right to an audience with the shogun . Etymology . The terms " gokenin " and " kenin " are etymologically related but have very different meanings . Confusion can arise also because in documents sometimes this last word is used together with the honorific prefix ( go + " kenin " ) . Under the ritsuryō legal system in use in Japan from the seventh to the tenth century , a " kenin " ( " house person " ) was a human being who , while legally property of a family , could be inherited but not sold and , unlike a slave , had some rights . For example , the inventory of a temple ' s wealth mentions thirteen " kenin " , among them four women , who were in effect servants . From the beginning of the Japanese Middle Ages , the relationship between lords and vassals tended , even in the absence of real blood ties , to be seen as an ancestral bond where each side inherited the rights and duties of the previous generation . Both sides thought of and spoke of their relationship in terms suggesting kinship , hence the use of the term " gokenin " , the prefix " go - " denoting prestige having been added after the Heian period . This social class evolved during the Kamakura shogunate based on the personal , contractual and military relationship between the shogun and individual " gokenin " . Until recently it was assumed Kamakura shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo coined the word and the role when he started his campaign to gain power in 1180 . The Azuma Kagami , diary of the shogunate , uses the term from its very first entries . The first reliable documentary evidence of a formal " gokenin " status and of actual vassal registers however dates to the early 1190s , and it seems therefore that the vassalage concept remained vague for at least the first decade of the shogunate ' s life . In any event , by that date the three main administrative roles created by the Kamakura shogunate ( " gokenin " , " shugo " ( governor ) and " jitō " ( manor ' s lord ) ) were certainly in existence . The right to appoint them was the very basis of Kamakura ' s power and legitimacy . History . Fall of Kamakura . " Gokenin " vassals were descendants of former shoen owners , former peasants or former samurai who had made a name for themselves in Minamoto no Yoritomo ' s army during his military campaigns against the Taira clan and were rewarded after victory . They and the bands of samurai they hired provided the shogun with the military force he needed . They also collected local taxes and ruled over territories they were entrusted with , but nominally didn ' t own . Because the shogun had usurped the emperor ' s power to nominate them , they owed loyalty only to him . The " gokenin " title was earned by participating to an initiation ceremony , writing one ' s name in a register ( ) and making an oath of vassalage . The Kamakura government retained the power to appoint and dismiss , but otherwise left " gokenin " " shugo " and " jitō " alone and free to use tax income as they saw fit . As long as they remained faithful , they had considerable autonomy from the central government . In time , because " gokenin " officials were rarely dismissed , their powers and land ownership became in practice hereditary . By the end of the shogunate , the government was little more than a coalition of semi - autonomous states . " Gokenin " and the daimyo . After the fall of the Kamakura in 1333 , changes in the balance of power forced the Ashikaga to try to modify the state ' s economy and structure . The process of reversing the extreme parcelization of the land would occupy the next couple of centuries . The dynasty tried to eradicate local warlords and concentrate power in its hands , but this in fact only increased the level of hostility . It seized the lands of the Hōjō clan , former rulers of Kamakura , and of all defeated " gokenin " but , at seeing the Ashikaga keep those lands for themselves , to the point where they had direct control of almost 25 % of the country , their own allies started fearing for themselves and their heirs . The ensuing turmoil gave inadvertently rise to the figure of the daimyo feudal lord , although the term wouldn ' t be in wide use for the first half a century . Many daimyo were " shugo " or " jitō " of " gokenin " extraction or even noblemen , but most were new faces who had supplanted their superiors . Crucially , because resisting the Ashikaga required a strong central power and a smooth succession , among them inheritance was no longer shared , but passed on intact to a single heir , who often was not even a blood relative , but a promising man adopted specifically to be heir . Later status . In the Edo period , " gokenin " were the lowest - ranking vassals of the Tokugawa shogunate , next to the " hatamoto " . Unlike a " hatamoto " , a " gokenin " was not of " status - in other words , he was not allowed to have an audience with the shogun .