The Yokibito are the Japanese aristocracy of the Heian Period. At the time of Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon, around the year 1000, they numbered about five thousand in a land of perhaps five million. The word yokibito literally translates as "the good people" but could be better rendered as "The Beautiful People" or "The Fortunate Ones".
Source: The World of the Shining Prince, by Ivan Morris
