Yoichi Sogawa: The Land System of Ancient Japan

2025/07/14

"Omitakara" is the Japanese reading applied to the term "Komin" (public citizens), which refers to the people of ancient times. The prevailing theory is that it means "Omitakara" (Great Imperial Rice Fields People)—that is, the people who cultivate the nation's rice fields. The Ritsuryo state, the ancient Japanese state, managed all people through family registers (koseki).

The state distributed land known as Kubunden (mouth-share fields). This included people who did not actually engage in cultivation, as well as fishermen and artisans whose primary livelihood was not farming. The Japanese Ritsuryo codes strongly emphasized the ideology of managing people by linking them to land, as evidenced by the deliberate decision not to adopt provisions from the Tang Code (the parent law) that would have halved the land allotment for artisans.

Under the principles of the Ritsuryo system, Kubunden were allotted once every six years and returned to the state upon the holder's death at the time of the next allotment—a system known as Handen Shuju. However, there were issues, such as the lack of regulations regarding newly reclaimed land. In response, the Konden Einen Shizai Law (Law Allowing Perpetual Ownership of Reclaimed Land) was enacted in Tenpyo 15 (743), decreeing that reclaimed fields would never be confiscated. While this law is sometimes understood as having triggered the collapse of the Ritsuryo state by encouraging large-scale land ownership by powerful royals and clans, the general consensus among ancient history scholars is that it represented the deepening and expansion of land control by the Ritsuryo state, as it clarified the concept of private fields and placed them under national management. Regarding inheritance, in the Taiho Code implemented in 701, land was not subject to inheritance; however, in the Yoro Code of 757, land was defined as property subject to inheritance. This can also be seen as a reflection of the clarified existence of private fields.

While the imperial family and powerful clans owned private land prior to the Ritsuryo system, these continued to exist under the Ritsuryo system in the form of Fuko (sustenance households) and Iden (rank fields) granted by the state. In other words, contrary to the ideology, the reality was that the system was not always strictly "public land and public citizens" (Kochi Komin). However, the collection and delivery of harvests from these private lands, called Sho or Shoen, were handled through the local administrative machinery of the Ritsuryo state, namely the Kokushi (provincial governors) and Gunji (district governors). It can be said that the state adopted a format that indirectly incorporated private land ownership. Furthermore, the lands of the Imperial Family were also, in a sense, private. Around the mid-9th century, new lands such as Chokushiden (imperial decree fields) and Goinden (retired emperor's fields) were established across the country to cover the daily expenses of the imperial family. These projects involved new reclamation or the redevelopment of abandoned fields using public funds, carried out with the active cooperation of local Gunji. In exchange for their cooperation in establishing Chokushiden, the Gunji obtained high status and established authority within their regions.

Additionally, under the original Ritsuryo system, the communal use of undeveloped land and mountains/forests (including water rights) was considered a shared benefit between the public and private sectors, and there were spaces where exclusive private ownership was excluded to a certain extent. When irrigation facilities were damaged, the system involved mobilizing people under the jurisdiction of the Kokushi to repair them. However, there was an increasing number of cases where wealthy individuals who had accumulated private wealth were asked to provide their own funds for repairs in exchange for high status. While the balance between national land management and communal benefit is a difficult issue, the Ritsuryo state maintained its control over land while utilizing the power of local influential figures.

Furthermore, the custom of confiscating the movable and immovable property of those who committed serious crimes existed even before the Ritsuryo system. This meant that the private lands of royals and clans carried the risk of being confiscated depending on the political situation. To prevent the dispersal of land due to such circumstances, land was donated to clan temples (Ujidera), leading to the accumulation of temple estates (Joryo). This was because items that became Buddhist property were, in principle, safe from confiscation.

Meanwhile, among the influential farmers, "wealthy vagrants" (fugo ronin) began to appear, accumulating private wealth while avoiding taxes by remaining unregistered in the family registers. Furthermore, from the 9th to the 10th century, a nationwide trend was observed where previously existing settlements suddenly disappeared. While climate change is considered one of the reasons, these social changes made the traditional land control—which was paired with family registers—difficult to maintain.

Originally, a tax called So was levied on the harvest from Kubunden. Even for high-quality paddy fields, the tax rate was low—about 3% of the harvest—and it served as a local financial resource stored in the district's Shoso (granaries). It is believed to have originated from Hatsuho (first fruits), where a portion of the rice harvested by the community was offered to the gods before the Ritsuryo system. The Ritsuryo tax system was predicated on these pre-Ritsuryo communities, but due to the social changes mentioned above, the system shifted from management via ledgers like family registers to a method of taxing the fields actually being cultivated (Kanmotsu) and imposing various labor duties as needed (Rinji Zoyaku).

Who owns the land and how to tax it are crucial issues for a state. Many debates regarding ancient land control continue to this day, and the points raised in this article are only a limited selection. However, it can be said that the Ritsuryo state attempted to maintain its governance system as much as possible in response to a changing society by utilizing the power of influential royals, clans, and local magnates.