Village Needs - Village Needs

In the Edo period, various expenses were necessary for the management of village government and the low-level administration of feudal lords. The contents of these expenses differed depending on the region, but generally they included the salaries of village officials, travel expenses, salary of village officials, expenses for meetings, fees for brushes, ink and paper, expenses for self-improvement, fees for gifts to the magistrate, expenses for inspectors and magistrates to visit the villages, fees for couriers, fees for changing notices, fees for promoting temples and shrines, and lodging fees for traveling monks and komuso. The installments for village expenses paid to the villagers over the year were levied based on the amount of rice owned by the peasants and the number of households. The installments for village expenses often became a problem within the village and were the cause of so-called village riots. For this reason, two village usage registers were created each year, which were then taken to the administrative office where they were stamped with a seal. The village's needs were then recorded in the two registers, and the registers were then taken back to the administrative office for correction. If no suspicious items were found, one register would be returned to the village and the other would be kept at the office.

[Sadao Kawanabe]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代、村政の運営や領主支配の末端行政に必要な諸経費。その諸経費の内容は地域によって違いがあるが、一般的には村役人の給料や出府費用、定夫(じょうふ)給料、寄合(よりあい)費用、筆墨紙(ひつぼくかみ)代、自普請(じふしん)入用、代官への進物(しんもつ)代、巡見使・代官の廻村(かいそん)費用、飛脚(ひきゃく)代、高札(こうさつ)書替え入用、寺社の勧化(かんげ)代、旅僧・虚無僧(こむそう)の宿泊代などである。1年間に支出された村入用の村民への割賦(わっぷ)は、農民の所持石高(こくだか)割や戸数割によって賦課された。その村入用の割賦をめぐっては、村内でしばしば問題となり、いわゆる村方騒動の原因となった。そうしたことから村入用帳を毎年二冊作成し、それを支配役所へ持って行って押切(おしきり)印（割印）を受け、その二冊の帳面に村入用を記し、ふたたび支配役所へ行って改めを受け、不審の事がなければ一冊は村へ返され、一冊は役所で保管された。

［川鍋定男］

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