Village of the powerful clan's mansion

A medieval settlement centered around the residence or mansion of a local feudal lord. In the Kanto region, it is called Yakata, Horinouchi, Minowa, or Negoya, in Chugoku and Shikoku it is called Doi or Sange, and in Kyushu it is called Kakoi or Fumoto. It can be found on the edges of hills and plateaus, at the bottom of eroded valleys, or on natural levees in alluvial plains, and is often chosen in a location suitable for defense. The settlement structure is that rice storehouses, barns, stables, and servant tenement houses are built around the central feudal lord's mansion, and earthworks and moats surround these. The feudal lords used their servants to hand-make the cultivated land around their mansions. As the power of the feudal lords increased, some began to have double earthworks and moats. As a result, more farmers, craftsmen, merchants and other people began to move to the surrounding area, temples and shrines were attracted, the settlement developed, and a castle town was formed.

[Yukio Asaka]

"Japanese Historical Geography" edited by Yukio Asaka (1966, Daimeido)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

地方豪族の居館や屋敷を中心としてできている中世的性格の集落。関東では館(やかた)、堀之内、箕輪(みのわ)、根小屋(ねごや)、中国、四国では土居、山下(さんげ)、九州では拵(かこい)、麓(ふもと)などとよばれる。丘陵や台地の端や侵食谷底をはじめ沖積平野の自然堤防上などにもみられ、防御上の適地が選ばれることが多い。その集落形態は、中心の豪族の館の周りには、米倉、納屋(なや)、厩(うまや)や下人(げにん)長屋がつくられ、それらの周りには土塁や堀が巡らされる。豪族は下人を使って屋敷の周りの耕地を手作りしていた。やがて豪族の勢力が増強されると土塁や堀が二重につくられるものもできてくる。そして周りに農民や職人、それに商人などの来住するものが増え、寺社も招致されて集落は発達し、城下町が形成されてゆく。

［浅香幸雄］

『浅香幸雄編『日本の歴史地理』（1966・大明堂）』

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