Grass height - Kusadaka

During the Edo period, this referred to the total amount of rice produced within a domain. Wheat, soybeans, buckwheat, and other crops harvested in fields other than rice, as well as land on which houses were not used for cultivation, were also converted into rice and included in the kokudaka. This term is often seen in tax allocation documents and tax payment lists, and is thought to have originally referred to the kokudaka (especially village tax) used as the standard for tax assessment. However, when the kokudaka based on land surveys began to deviate significantly from the actual production volume, the kokudaka became a nominal amount for the system. For example, in the Shibata domain of Echigo Province (now Niigata Prefecture) during the Shoo era (1652-1655), the domain adopted a system where 1 tan = 360 bu, made the amount of rice harvested the basis for imposing additional taxes, and made the previous hon-taka (tax on land) a nominal amount, calling it kusa-taka (grass tax).

[Akira Baba]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、領内で産出される米穀の総量をいう。米以外の畑で収穫される麦、大豆、蕎麦(そば)などや耕作に使用されない屋敷地の分も米に換算して、草高に組み込んだ。年貢割付(わりつけ)状や年貢皆済(かいさい)目録などによくみられる呼称であり、本来は年貢賦課基準としての石高(こくだか)（とくに村高）をさすと考えられる。しかし、検地に基づく草高が実際の生産高と著しく乖離(かいり)するようになると、草高は制度上のものとして名目化した。たとえば、越後(えちご)国（新潟県）新発田(しばた)藩では、承応(じょうおう)年間（1652～55）の地改(じあらため)に際し、1反(たん)＝360歩(ぶ)制を採用したうえ、取米(とりまい)高を付加税賦課の基準にする一方、従来の本高を草高と称して名目化させた。

［馬場　章］

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