was a class of ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' in the

Tokugawa Shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

who were certain relatives of the ''

Shōgun , officially , was the title of the military rulers of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, except during parts of the Kamak ...

''. While all ''shinpan'' were relatives of the ''shōgun'', not all relatives of the shōgun were ''shinpan''; an example of this is the

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

of the Okutono Domain. Non-''daimyō'' relatives, such as the ''

Gosankyō The were three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan. They were descended from the eighth of the fifteen Tokugawa shōguns, Yoshimune (1684–1751). Yoshimune established the ''Gosankyo'' to augment (or perhaps to replace) the '' Gosanke' ...

'', were also known as ''kamon'' – thus the ''shinpan'' lords were alternatively known as ''kamon daimyō'' (家門大名). ''Shinpan'' included the

Gosanke The , also called simply , or even , were the most noble three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan: Owari, Kii, and Mito, all of which were descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu, and Yorifusa ...

, the Matsudaira clan of Aizu and the Matsudaira clan of the

Fukui Domain The , also known as the , was a domain (''han'') of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1601 to 1871. Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie du Japon''; Papinot, (2003). The ...

. These branch families were created after the 1600 Battle of Sekigahara; there were 23 ''shinpan'' domains, producing a total of approximately 2.6 million ''koku'' of rice. Because they were family and thus could wield informal power, they were not permitted to hold official positions in the ''bakufu.'' These families could also provide a shogunal successor if necessary.

See also

Further reading