Request office - Ukesho

In the Shoen system, the land steward, manor official, and village headman would enter into a contract with the ryoke (lord) to pay a fixed amount of tax in return for being delegated full authority to govern the manor. The contracted land (shitaji) was called ukechi or ukekoro. The contracted tax was called ukeryo and ukeguchi, and was set at the same rate every year regardless of good or bad harvests. With the rise of the samurai power, contracting began especially in manors in the eastern part of the country. The Kamakura Shogunate provided a certain amount of guarantee in order to protect the samurai's vassals, and protected them as the ukesho of the Kamakura kunyu. In 1268 (Bun'ei 5), the shogunate protected the gokenin by enacting a law stating that even the lord could not arbitrarily dismiss a kensho who had served as a kensho for 20 years. Later, in 1299 (Shoan 1), the law was amended to not apply to kensho established after the Jōkyū War (1221). In the Kamakura period, many of the contractors were jito (land stewards), and these were called jitouke, but in the Muromachi period, shugo uke was carried out by shugo. Contracts by powerful samurai gradually reduced the amount of manor tax paid, making the manorial ownership of aristocrats, temples, and shrines merely a formality. This trend was particularly exacerbated after the Onin War (1467-77). Ichijo Kaneyoshi wrote that the Fukuhara Manor in Settsu Province (Hyogo Prefecture) was under contract to the Shugo Akamatsu clan, but the tax was reduced, the Tsubo Manor in Bingo Province (Hiroshima Prefecture) was under contract to the Shugo Yamana clan, but the tax was not paid, and the Asuwa Mikuriya in Echizen Province (Fukui Prefecture) was seized by the Shugo Asakura clan. On the other hand, with the formation of the village system, contracts by headmen and peasants (jigeuke, hyakushouke) also began, further accelerating the collapse of the manor system.

[Takeshi Abe]

"An Outline of the History of Japanese Manors" by Yasuda Motohisa (1957, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

荘園(しょうえん)制において、地頭(じとう)、荘官(しょうかん)、名主(みょうしゅ)らが領家(りょうけ)（領主）と契約して一定額の年貢納入を請け負い、そのかわり荘園支配の全権を委任される制度。請け負った荘地（下地(したじ)）を請地(うけち)、請所(うけどころ)という。請け負った年貢を請料(うけりょう)、請口(うけぐち)といい、豊作凶作にかかわらず毎年一定とした。武士勢力の台頭とともに、とくに東国の荘園で請負が始まった。鎌倉幕府は御家人(ごけにん)保護の立場から一定の保証を与え、鎌倉口入(くにゅう)の請所として保護した。1268年（文永5）幕府は、請所として20年を経過したものは、領家といえどもかってに解任することはできないという法を定めて御家人を保護した。のち1299年（正安1）に、承久(じょうきゅう)の乱（1221）以後の請所については前記の法を適用しないと改めた。鎌倉時代の請負主体の多くは地頭で、これを地頭請といったが、室町時代には守護による守護請が行われた。有力武士による請負は、荘園年貢の納入額をしだいに減少させ、貴族、寺社の荘園領有を有名無実にした。応仁(おうにん)の乱（1467～77）後はとくにこの傾向が助長された。一条兼良(いちじょうかねら)はその家領(けりょう)について、摂津国（兵庫県）福原(ふくはら)荘は守護赤松氏の請負であるが年貢減少し、備後(びんご)国（広島県）坪生(つぼう)荘は守護山名(やまな)氏の請負であるが年貢の納入なく、越前(えちぜん)国（福井県）足羽御厨(あすわのみくりや)は守護朝倉(あさくら)氏に押領(おうりょう)されたと書き記している。一方、郷村制(ごうそんせい)の形成に伴い、名主、百姓らによる請負（地下請(じげうけ)、百姓請）も始まり、荘園制の崩壊がいっそう促進された。

［阿部　猛］

『安田元久著『日本荘園史概説』（1957・吉川弘文館）』

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