The daimyo

Daimyo

is a generic term referring to the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings...

 were certain relatives of the Tokugawa shoguns of Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. While all shinpan were relatives of the shogun, not all relatives of the shogun were shinpan; an example of this is the Matsudaira clan

Matsudaira clan

The was a Japanese samurai clan that claimed descent from the Minamoto clan. It first originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province . Over the course of its history, the clan produced many branches, most of which also centered around Mikawa Province...

 of the Okutono Domain

Okutono Domain

, was a Japanese domain of the Edo period, located in Kamo District and Nukata Districts of Mikawa Province , and in Saku District, Shinano Province, Japan. The domain was also known as and later known as and...

. The shinpan lords were also known as kamon daimyō (家門大名) — non-daimyo relatives, such as the Gosankyō

Gosankyo

The ' were three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan. They were descended from the eighth of the fifteen Tokugawa shoguns, Yoshimune . Yoshimune established the Gosankyo to augment the Gosanke, the heads of the powerful han of Owari, Kishū, and Mito...

 were also known as kamon. Shinpan included the Gosanke

Gosanke

The , also called simply Gosanke or even Sanke, were three branches of the Tokugawa clan of Japan descended from clan founder Tokugawa Ieyasu's three youngest sons, Yoshinao, Yorinobu and Yorifusa and allowed to provide a shogun in case of need. The three houses were called Owari House of Tokugawa,...

, the Matsudaira clan of Aizu

Aizu

is an area comprising the westernmost third of Fukushima Prefecture in Japan. The principal city of the area is Aizuwakamatsu.During the Edo period, Aizu was a feudal domain known as and part of Mutsu Province.-History:...

, the Matsudaira clan of the Fukui Domain

Fukui Domain

The was a feudal domain in Echizen Province of Japan during the Edo period. It is also sometimes called '. The family name of the heads of the domain is "Matsudaira".- List of heads :# Hideyasu# Tadanao...

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Further reading

• Totman, Conrad. (1967). Politics in the Tokugawa bakufu, 1600-1843. Cambridge: Harvard University Press
  Harvard University Press
  Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
  
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