Head of household - Koshu

Japanese: 戸主 - こしゅ

The head of a household or family, in a position to lead its members. Regardless of the name, it is believed that in practice this position existed before the Taika era, but was established during the Taika Reforms by the system of family registries, which was institutionalized by the provisions of the Ritsuryo Code. Family registries and accounting books were also created based on this declaration, and the head of a household was responsible for paying taxes such as rent, labor, and tax. It is unclear whether the head of a household had control over his or her household. However, his or her status improved over time, and in the Heian period, official ranks were fixed according to family rank, that is, the highest ranks were determined, and the power of the head of a household increased. Especially after the samurai society, the word "household head" was no longer used, but instead, the head of a family, the head of a clan, came to determine the inheritance and distribution of property as the leader of the clan or family, and through this right of inheritance, he or she gained exclusive and absolute patriarchal control over the clan or family, and in the Edo period this extended to the common people. In the Meiji era, a new family registry system was established, and the right of head of family was recognized, including the right of consent to transfer of family registry status due to marriage or other reasons, the unilateral right to designate adoptions, heirs, inheritance of the family headship, and gifts of property, and the right to designate the residence of family members. The Constitution of Japan enacted after World War II was based on the principle of individual freedom and equality, and denied the right of head of family that viewed family members as subordinates to the head of family. Under the new Civil Code, the family system was abolished, and with it the concept of head of family disappeared, and it came to simply refer to the person listed at the top of the family registry as the "head of the family registry."

To the head of household

(1) The head of a household or a family (→ Koshu). (2) A unit of area in ancient capitals. Heian-kyo was divided into jo (rice fields) by streets that ran perpendicularly from east to west to north to south. Each jo was 4 bo, each bo 16 cho, each cho 40 jo, and each area that was 10 jo from east to west and 5 jo from north to south was called a koshu. It was also seen in Kamakura during the Kamakura period. (→ System of Jobo)

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

戸または家の首長として，その構成員を統率する地位にあるもの。名目はともかくとして，実質的には，大化以前からあったものと思われるが，大化改新の際，令の規定によって制度化された戸籍の制によって確立した。戸籍，計帳もその申告に基づいて作成され，租・庸・調などの税負担の責任者となった。戸主の戸口に対する支配権の有無は明らかではない。しかし，その地位も時代を経るに従って向上し，平安時代に入り家格によって官位が固定，すなわち極官，極位が定まると戸主の権力は増大していった。特に武家社会以後は，戸主という語はみられないが，これに代って，家督が一門，一族の統率者として財産の継承，配分を定めるようになり，この継承権を通じて一門，一族に対する独占的，絶対的な家父長的支配権をもつようになり，江戸時代にはこれが庶民にまで及ぶようになった。明治になって，新しい戸籍の制度ができ，家族各人の婚姻などによる家籍の移動に対する同意権，養子，嗣子，家督相続，財産贈与などに対する一方的な指定権，家族構成員の居所に対する指定権などをその内容とした戸主権が認められた。第2次世界大戦後の日本国憲法は，個人の自由，平等をたてまえとしたから，このような家族構成員を戸主の従属物とみるような戸主権は否定された。新しい民法のもとでは家の制度は廃止され，それにつれて戸主という概念もなくなり，単に戸籍の最初に「戸籍筆頭者」として記載されている者をさすにすぎなくなった。