From the Kamakura period until the Edo period, it was the head of the Shogunate, a position held by the leader of the samurai families, and became hereditary to his descendants.
鎌倉時代以降江戸時代に至るまでは、幕府の長であり、武家の棟梁が位に就いて子孫が世襲する形を取った。