The New International Encyclopædia/Daimio

DAIMIO, dī′mē̇-ō (Japan., great name). A term applied in Japan to a territorial feudal lord, in contrast with the kuge or landless noble of the Imperial Court. From the decay of the Mikado's power in the twelfth century, this class, numbering nearly 300, flourished until the abolition of feudalism in 1868, when they were amalgamated with the kuge, the two forming the Kuazoku, or flowery nobility. According to their former rank, wealth, power, historical or personal importance, the individual daimios have become princes, marquises, counts, barons, etc. Consult: Dickson, Sketch of the History and Government of Japan (London, 1869); and Griffis, The Mikado's Empire (New York, 1900).