Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 4.djvu/293



—Their representatives have the title of "Prince" in the present order of Japanese nobility.  —Their representatives have the title of "Marquis" in the present order of Japanese nobility.  —A standing order directed that novelty in every form must be eschewed, and that any unwonted incident must be reported immediately to Yedo.  —The revenues were stated in koku of rice, but it must be understood that the number of koku produced by a fief did not represent the feudatory's income; it represented only the taxable property in his fief.  —It should be noted that the term Daimyō mentioned above was not used as a title. The latter was obtained by appending the word Kami (Chief) to the name of the district over which a baron ruled. Thus Echizen-no-Kami, Dewa-no-Kami, etc., signified the barons of Echizen, of Dewa, and so on. Another form of feudal title was derived from the name of an hereditary office, according to the old custom explained in a previous chapter. With regard to the word Daimyo [sic], literally "great name," the hypothesis is that the military men sent from Kyōtō to govern unruly provincial districts were originally called Myōdai (substitutes), and that when they acquired semi-independent power, they called themselves Daimiyō, preserving one part (miyō) of their original destination, but replacing dai (substitute) by dai (great).  —A Japanese proverb marshals the influences effective in obtaining admission to the ranks of the Court ladies thus: Ichi-hiki ni-un san-kiryo, or, "first a patron, second luck, and third ability." 