Inheriting the banshu system in the palace in the Kamakura period, Hokoshu were the gokenin who were differenciated from general gokenin (an immediate vassal of the shogunate in the Kamakura and Muromachi through Edo periods) or jito (manager and lord of manor) and closely waited on thier shogun (otomoshu, literally, the attendant group).
鎌倉時代の御所内番衆の制度を継承するもので、一般御家人や地頭とは区別された将軍に近侍(御供衆)する御家人である。