Eternal Wasteland - Eirechi

...Farms that have been designated as "kigaeri" are called "kigaeri land" or "kigaeri place." If farms that have been assigned rice yields through land surveys become wasteland, they are registered as "eire" (permanently wasteland) and are excluded from the tax assessment, which naturally leads to a decrease in tax collection. This phenomenon continued throughout the Edo period, but it was around the Kanbun and Enpo eras (1661-81) that it became a major problem in the Shogunate's agricultural policy, and notable policies to promote "kigaeri" began to be implemented. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Eternal Wasteland" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…また起返になった田畑を起返地あるいは起返場所と言う。検地によって石高をつけられた田畑が荒地化した場合，その田畑は永荒（えいあれ）地として登録され年貢賦課の対象から除かれるので，当然年貢収納量の減少を招くことになる。このような現象は江戸時代を通じてあるが，幕府の農政の上でこのことが大きく問題となり，起返を促進するための顕著な施策がみられるようになるのは，だいたい寛文･延宝期(1661‐81)ごろと考えてよい。…

※「永荒地」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報