Gokenin - retainer

(1) A samurai who had a lord-vassal relationship with the shogun (Kamakura-dono) during the Kamakura period. In the Heian period, servants of aristocrats were called kenin, and samurai who served the heads of samurai families such as the Minamoto and Taira clans were also called kenin. However, under the Kamakura shogunate, the shogun's kenin were given special honorifics, such as Kamakura-dono gokenin and Kanto gokenin. Just as samurai not under the shogunate's control were called "non-gokenin," the title of gokenin gradually became fixed as a status designation for a specific type of samurai. The "Satamirensho", which explains the legal procedures of the Kamakura Shogunate, defines a gokenin as "a person who has been granted a samurai official letter of approval as a lord of a land since ancient times", and in order to become a gokenin, a samurai who owned a private land (honryo) had to present a list of his name to the shogun and attend the meeting, and go through the process of receiving an official letter of approval of his land from the shogun. However, the relationship of vassal between the shogun and the gokenin in the western provinces was generally loose, and many of them became gokenin simply by the shugo reporting their names. For this reason, gokenin in the eastern provinces were appointed as land stewards of manors and public lands through the approval of the honryo official letter or new favor, but there are very few examples of gokenin in the western provinces becoming land stewards. In return for the Shogun's confirmation of their territories and appointment to their posts, the Gokenin were obligated to serve in wartime, serve as guards in peacetime, and perform other duties as Gokenin, such as serving as the Oban-yaku (guard) or Kamakura guards, and perform other duties as Gokenin. In this way, the Shogun and the Gokenin formed a bilateral contractual relationship of master and servant through a relationship of favor and service, and the Gokenin system became the military foundation of the Kamakura Shogunate. The Samurai-dokoro (Samurai Office) was in charge of the Gokenin in the central government, and after the Jōkyū War (1221), the Rokuhara Tandai was in charge of the Gokenin in the western provinces, and after the Mongol invasion, the Chinzei Tandai was in charge of the Gokenin in Kyushu, but usually the Gokenin were controlled by province through the Shugo. The Kamakura Shogunate consistently adopted a policy of protecting the Gokenin, but in the latter half of the Kamakura period, the Gokenin system gradually loosened due to the breakdown of the Gokenin hierarchy, which led to some Gokenin finding themselves in financial difficulty, and the rise of illegitimate children leading to conflicts between the eldest son and his illegitimate son. Furthermore, the foundations of the Gokenin system were shaken by a lack of rewards after the Mongol invasion, an increase in the burden of guarding foreign lands, and conflicts between the Hojo clan's vassals (miuchibito) and ordinary Gokenin, which led to the shogunate's downfall. The title of Gokenin continued to exist in the Muromachi period as an indication of the lineage of samurai families, but it did not become the main power base of the Muromachi Shogunate, and its substance was lost.

(2) A term used to refer to lower-ranking direct vassals of the Edo Shogunate. Direct vassals with a fief of 10,000 koku or less were called hatamoto if they had been appointed as a direct vassal by the shogun or higher and gokenin if they had been appointed as a direct vassal by the shogun or lower. Gokenin were also classified as fudai, nihanba, or ichidai-ka-kae depending on when they became direct vassals. The highest stipend of a gokenin was 260 koku, and the lowest was 4 ryo (1 person's allowance). In the late Edo period, there was frequent trading of gokenin stocks, in which wealthy townspeople would be adopted by impoverished gokenin and inherit the family headship to become vassals of the shogunate.

[Yasunori Koyama]

"Kamakura Gokenin" by Yasuda Motohisa (Kyoikusha History Paperbacks)" "A Study on the History of the Establishment of the Feudal Lord-Servant System" by Okyo Ryo (1967, Kazama Shobo)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

(1)鎌倉時代に将軍（鎌倉殿）と主従関係を結んだ武士。平安時代には貴族の従者を家人とよび、源氏や平氏などの武家の棟梁(とうりょう)に臣従する武士も家人とよんだが、鎌倉幕府のもとでは将軍の家人にはとくに敬称をつけて、鎌倉殿御家人、関東御家人などと称した。幕府の統率下にない武士が「非御家人」とよばれたように、御家人の称はしだいに特定の武士をさす身分呼称として固定化した。鎌倉幕府の訴訟手続を解説した『沙汰未練書(さたみれんしょ)』には、「御家人とは、往昔以来、開発領主として、武家御下文(おんくだしぶみ)を賜る人の事なり」と定義され、御家人になるためには開発私領（本領）を有する武士が名簿(みょうぶ)を捧(ささ)げて将軍の見参に入り、将軍から本領安堵(あんど)の下文を受ける手続を必要とした。ただし、西国の御家人は一般に将軍との主従関係が緩やかで、守護が交名(きょうみょう)を注進するだけで御家人となったものも多かった。このため、東国の御家人は、本領安堵あるいは新恩によって、荘園(しょうえん)・公領の地頭職(じとうしき)に補任(ぶにん)されたが、西国の御家人で地頭になった例はきわめて少ない。御家人は、将軍から与えられた所領安堵・所職補任に対して、戦時に際しての出陣、平時の大番役(おおばんやく)・鎌倉番役などの軍役、あるいは関東御公事(みくうじ)などの御家人役を負担する義務を負った。このように将軍と御家人は御恩と奉公の関係を通じて双務契約的な主従関係を形成し、御家人制は鎌倉幕府の軍事的な基盤となった。御家人を中央で統轄したのは侍所(さむらいどころ)で、承久(じょうきゅう)の乱（1221）以降は六波羅探題(ろくはらたんだい)が西国の御家人を管掌し、蒙古(もうこ)襲来以後は鎮西(ちんぜい)探題が九州の御家人を管掌したが、普通は守護を介して国ごとに御家人の統率が行われた。鎌倉幕府は一貫して御家人を保護する政策をとったが、鎌倉時代後期になると、御家人の階層分解が進んで経済的に困窮する御家人がみられ、また庶子の台頭による惣領(そうりょう)と庶子の対立などにより、御家人制はしだいに弛緩(しかん)した。さらに蒙古襲来後の恩賞の不足と異国警固番役などの負担の増大、あるいは北条氏の被官(ひかん)（御内人(みうちびと)）と一般の御家人との対立によって、御家人制の根幹が揺らぎ、幕府が滅亡する原因ともなった。なお、室町時代にも御家人の称は武家の家柄を示すものとして存続したが、室町幕府の主要な権力基盤とはならず、その実質は失われた。

(2)江戸幕府の直臣(じきしん)団のうち下級のものをさす呼称。知行(ちぎょう)高1万石以下の直臣団は、御目見(おめみえ)以上を旗本(はたもと)、それ以下を御家人と称した。御家人には、直臣になった時期の違いによって譜代(ふだい)と二半場(にはんば)と一代抱(いちだいかかえ)という区別もあった。御家人の禄高(ろくだか)の最高は260石で、最低は4両一人扶持(ぶち)であった。江戸時代後期になると、富裕な町人が、困窮した御家人の養子となって家督を継いで幕臣となる御家人株の売買もしばしばみられた。

［小山靖憲］

『安田元久著『鎌倉御家人』（教育社歴史新書）』▽『大饗亮著『封建的主従制成立史研究』（1967・風間書房）』

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