Under the Edo bakufu (Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun), the inheriting grandson of the seii taishogun (literally, "great general who subdues the barbarians"), Tokugawa gosanke (three privileged branches of Tokugawa family), the gosankyo (three Tokugawa clan families who separated from the clan), and the lord of Kaga Domain who wedded the daughter of the Shogun were granted the rank.
江戸幕府の下では、征夷大将軍の嫡孫、徳川御三家、御三卿、将軍の息女を正室とした加賀藩の藩主などが叙せられた。