were members of the samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 class of feudal Japan. Yoriki literally means helper or 'assistant.

Description and History

Yoriki assisted Daimyo (feudal lords) or their designated commanders during military campaigns in the Kamakura

Kamakura period

The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura Shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first shogun Minamoto no Yoritomo....

 and Muromachi periods

Muromachi period

The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial...

.In the Edo period

Edo period

The , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....

, yoriki became to provide administrative assistance at governmental offices. Among different yorikis were the machikata yoriki, who were in charge of police under the command of the machi bugyō. Below the yoriki were the dōshin. In the city of Edo there were about 25 yorikis working each for the two machi bugyō offices.