This is a mug shaped like a long haired and robed Japanese figure holding a fan. The daimyo (dah-ee-myoh) were the powerful territorial lords in pre-modern Japan who ruled most of the country from their vast, hereditary land holdings. Subordinate only to the shogun, daimyo were the most powerful feudal rulers from the 10th century to the middle 19th century in Japan. The term "daimyo" is also sometimes used to refer to the leading figures of such clans, also called "lord". It was usually, though not exclusively, from these warlords that a shogun arose or a regent was chosen. Daimyo often hired samurai to guard their land and they paid the samurai in land or food.