The daimyo (大名, daimyō, pronounced About this sound dai-myoh ) were the powerful feudal lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings. In the term, "dai" (大) literally means "large", and "myō" stands for myōden (名田?), meaning private land.Subordinate only to the Shogun, daimyo were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan.