I am currently writing a short story, for a text prompt demanding I set my
plot among medieval Japan's nobility, but I am unfamiliar with older
honorifics.

The main dialogue takes place between **a military commander of high
nobility** and **his first lieutenant and bodyguard**. The point is that
although they have no hierarchical intermediates, the commander's blood is
much more aristocratic than the other's, which demands immense levels of
respect from him.

  * If the lord is a samurai, what would be the title of his first lieutenant? How would they address one another, both in terms of particle ( -kimi? -sama? "O-"prefix?... ) and of designation (a title, a last name)? Could there be several possibilities? 

  * Is there a more fitting title than samurai for this type of subordination relationship (for example, is it unrealistic that a samurai would have a first lieutenant serving as body guard)? In which case, does the lieutenant also have a title I should be aware of? 

  * What could be address variations (for different tones), such as between the English "my lord"/"lord X"/"master"? And, the other way, "lieutenant"/"lieutenant X"/"X" or even a (slightly condescending) "my friend"? 

  * Bonus question, like this wasn't enough yet: raking through even my most guilty references, I looked up the term _taicho_ for captain and only ever found pages about the anime Bleach. Does this rank even exist in real life (along with _fuku-taicho_ )? That's just me being curious however, I believe I can absolutely not use them.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-08T10:49:47.030
53682
2017-10-09T12:14:33.313
2017-10-08T11:49:20.653
11104
26060
question
politeness history suffixes honorifics prefixes
Historically, how would a military lord and his direct subordinate address each other?
According this page:
<https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q1479861664>, there
were some titles or roles but military ranks that correspond with those of
modern armies.

So, we will end up in calling the lord "との" and his man "(his name)" (both
when the lord addresses him and when he does himself in front of the lord).

People from other clans should call the lord "(his name)-sama" or "(his
title)-sama".

隊長｛たいちょう｝ and 副隊長｛ふくたいちょう｝ are not a military rank but a title or a role.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-10-09T12:14:33.313
53706
2017-10-09T12:14:33.313
4092
53682
answer