perquisite

Japanese: ほまち

Also written as "Sotsumochi." This refers to small-scale cultivated land that was mainly found in the eastern part of Japan, such as on riverbanks or river sandbars. It was also called "homachi rice fields." Because they were cultivated in areas prone to flooding and other damage, they were poorly cultivated land that only produced unstable harvests. While the number of fields was specified on the sales certificates for the rice fields on which taxes were levied, in the case of homachi rice fields, it was only written "one homachi rice field" or "how many tons of rice," suggesting that the land was not of interest to the feudal lord. It is thought that small farmers and servants often cultivated the land without their master's knowledge or by working in their spare time, to make a living or as a basis for their independence and growth.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

外持とも書く。主として東国で，河原や河川の中州などに開かれた小規模な耕地をいう。ほまち田ともいった。洪水などの被害にあいやすいところに開墾されているので，不安定な収穫しか得られぬ劣悪な耕地であった。年貢の賦課される田地の売券には田数が明記されるのに対し，ほまち田の場合は〈ほまち田一枚〉とか何斗蒔と記されるのみであり，領主の関心外の耕地であったと考えられる。小百姓や下人たちが，主人の目を盗んでか，あるいは余暇の労働によって開墾し，生活の資としたり，その自立･成長の基礎とした場合が多かったと思われる。

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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