Daimyo or hatamoto (direct retainers of the bakufu, which is a form of Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun) gave the myojitaito right to dominant merchants or farmers, depending on their lineages or distinguished services to them, and dealt with these persons in a way similar to that for samurai.
また、大名・旗本などは、しばしば家柄や功労により領内の有力百姓や町人などにこれを許して、武士に準ずる者として扱った。