In the Edo period, among all the sinpan (relatives of the Tokugawa family), it specifically referred to a family of the Tokugawa shogunate, and daimyo (a feudal lord) families and hatamoto (a direct retainer of the shogun) families with a family line of brothers of Ieyasu TOKUGAWA (founder of the Tokugawa shogunate, and the first shogun of the Edo bakufu, Japanese feudal government headed by a shogun).
江戸時代においては、親藩の中で、特に徳川将軍家の一族及び徳川家康の兄弟の家系の大名家、旗本家を指していう。