Mura Sosaku - Mura Sosaku

Japanese: 村総作 - むらそうさく

It is often written as "mura saku." In early modern Japan, when a farmer in a village was unable to farm his or her own farmland due to a decrease in the labor force caused by illness, elopement, or apprenticeship, and therefore was unable to pay the required annual tax, other villagers would farm in his or her place. Early modern villages were under the murauke system, so when a villager or household abandoned farming, someone had to fill in the gap. In such cases, the five-member group was expected to bear joint responsibility, but the actual situation varied.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

〈村惣作〉と書く場合も多い。日本の近世において，村内に病気，欠落（かけおち），出奉公（でぼうこう）などによる労働力減少で自家所持耕地を耕作できず，したがって所定の年貢を払えない農家が出た場合，他の村人が代わって耕作すること。近世の村は年貢村請（むらうけ）制であったから，村内に耕作放棄者(家)が出ると，その分をだれかが埋めなければならなかった。このような場合の連帯責任は五人組が負うべきものとされていたが，実情はさまざまであった。

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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