GOKENIN

appeared as direct vassals (''kenin'') 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 subordinates of daimyo were also called Gokenin.
In the Edo period, gokenin were the lowest-ranking direct vassals of the Tokugawa shogunate, next to the hatamoto. Unlike hatamoto, gokenin were not of ''omemie-ijō'' (御目見以上) status- in other words, they 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 their status to wealthy commoners or to ronin, often sealing the deal by way of adoption.