Daimyo were local lords in feudal Japan, especially during the period from the Kamakura (1185-1333) to the Edo (1603-1868) period, who had vast lands and private armies and great political, military and economic power. Daimyo were characterised by their autonomous power to maintain their own armies and conduct their own politics through income from their territories.
The Daimyo were a fundamental part of Japan’s social and political structure throughout the Edo period, but the Meiji Restoration abolished this system and established a centralised system under the new government. As a result, the daimyo were given a new status as ‘nobility’ and gradually lost their influence.
