Freeloader - Isourou

A lodger is an idle roommate, and the same goes for a nuisance. Iro means "to be present," and originated from the use of the title for roommates in official documents in the early modern period. In cities, there were businesses that arranged for employees to be hired on demand, and some people had many roommates at all times. This type of roommate formed the image of a lodger, but this was not necessarily the case in rural areas. At that time, old families and landlords who ran large-scale farms had to supplement their labor by having not only servants such as nago and genin, but also temporary or semi-permanent roommates. In Iwate Prefecture, lodgers are called katarito. Katalu means to cooperate or participate, and the original meaning of katarito was to join a labor organization. In the Kinki region, the words kennaido and kenaido are widely used to refer to lodgers. This ke is the opposite of hare (fair), and kennaido refers to people with whom one normally associates, that is, family members, and originally did not refer only to guests. Since the mid-modern period, as large-scale farming declined and small households were divided, the need for labor provided by freeloaders disappeared, and the meaning of its existence faded.

[Takeda Dan]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

食客、つまり無為な同居人で、厄介(やっかい)も同じ。居候とは「居(お)ります」の意で、近世に同居人を公文書に記す際の肩書に用いたことに始まる。都会には、求めに応じて雇い人を周旋する人入れ稼業がおこり、常時多数の同居人を抱える者があった。この種の同居人が食客のイメージを形成したが、農村ではかならずしも同じではなかった。当時、大規模な農業を行う旧家、大家では、名子(なご)、下人(げにん)などの奉公人だけでなく、一時的、あるいは半永久的な同居人を擁して労力の補充にあてなければならなかったのである。岩手県では居候をカタリトとよぶ。カタルとは共同する、参加することを意味し、労働組織の一員に加わるのがカタリトの原義であった。近畿地方では広くケンナイド、ケナイドが食客をさす語である。このケは晴(はれ)に対する褻(け)のことで、普段づきあいの人、つまり身内がケンナイドで、元来食客だけをいう語ではなかった。近世中期以降、大農経営が衰えて小さな家が分立するとともに、居候による労力提供の必要が失われ、その存在意義が薄れた。

［竹田　旦］

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