Feudalism in medieval Japan emerged during the Heian period (794–1185) as powerful landowners, known as daimyo, gained control over large estates and began to provide protection to peasants in exchange for their loyalty and labor. These landowners formed a hierarchical system where vassals swore allegiance to their lords in exchange for land and protection, creating a complex network of relationships based on mutual obligations. The establishment of the shogunate in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) solidified this feudal system, with the shogun acting as the military leader who held ultimate authority over the daimyo. Feudalism in Japan reached its peak during the Edo period (1603–1868) under the Tokugawa shogunate, where strict social divisions and a rigid hierarchy characterized the feudal society.
