Amid the violent upheavals of the Warring States Period in Japan from the mid-1500s till the early 17th century, there emerged some chivalrous spirits eager to fight on behalf of unprotected, ordinary people. Such men, who were known as kyokaku or otokodate -- "ones who seek to right wrongs" -- generally adopted the dress and imitated the behavior of samurai, upholding honorable principles and fulfilling social obligations.

Those who became otokodate were often the younger sons of hatamoto (high-ranking samurai serving the shogun), who had no money and nothing to do. Countless ronin (masterless samurai), who earned a living as bodyguards for wealthy merchants, also upheld the otokodate's principles of ninkyo (benevolence and chivalry).

Originating in the Kansai region, principally in Kyoto and Osaka, the otokodate fashion soon reached Edo, the capital established by the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603. There, otokodate were taken up as principal characters in such traditional theaters as bunraku and kabuki, and in the field of popular story-telling (kodan).