Village Documents - Murakata Monjo

Japanese: 村方文書 - むらかたもんじょ

Also known as local documents, village head documents, or village headman documents, this is a general term for documents (including records such as diaries and drawings) created in early modern Japanese villages. Many village documents are official documents created in relation to the feudal lord, but various private documents were also created in addition to these. In addition, families who served as heads of households during the Meiji period still have village documents from the early Meiji period, following on from documents from their predecessors. In the narrow sense, village documents refer to official documents from early modern villages, but in a broader sense, the term includes the various documents mentioned above.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

地方（じかた）文書，名主文書，庄屋文書ともいい，日本近世の村で作成された文書類(日記などの記録類や絵図などを含む)の総称。村方文書の多くは領主との関係において作成された公文書であるが，これとは別に私的な文書も各種のものが作成された。また明治期に戸長を務めた家には前代の文書に引き続き，明治前期の村文書も残っている。村方文書とは，狭義には近世の村における公文書を指すが，広義には上記のような各種の文書をも含めた呼称である。

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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