Dabetsusen - Dabetsusen

Japanese: 駄別銭 - だべつせん

In the Middle Ages, checkpoint fees were levied at a rate per horse carriage, and were collected in coins. When collected in kind, they were called dabetu-yaku. Similar taxes include umaashiyaku and dakuchi-mai. In the Middle Ages, checkpoints were set up at key transportation hubs and the entrances to cities such as Kyoto, and customs fees were levied. These originated from the collection of transportation fees and security guard fees, but from the mid-to-late Middle Ages onwards, they were set up in large numbers to collect a cut from feudal lords and others. One method of collecting customs fees was dabetu-sen, which was levied per horse carriage when transported overland, and from this the term has come to be used in some cases to mean customs fees in general.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

中世に馬1駄につき，いくらという割合で課税され，銭で徴収された関所料。現物徴収の場合は駄別役という。同様のものに馬足役，駄口米がある。中世においては，交通の要衝や京都などの都市の入口に関所がおかれ，関料が課された。これは交通機関の使用料や，治安警備費の徴収に由来するが，中世中後期以後は領主などの得分徴収のために濫設された。その関料徴収の方法として，陸路を馬で運送される場合には1駄ごとに徴収されたのが駄別銭で，それから転じて，この語が一般に関料という意味で使用されている場合もある。

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

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