Yakuya - Yakuya

Japanese: 役家 - やくや

A term used to refer to farmers who paid labor services during the Sengoku and Edo periods. They were also called kujiya, yakumae, yakuken, etc. Generally, they were farmers who owned houses and were in the middle to upper classes of villages, and had a higher status than musokunin, who did not pay labor services. Among the yakuya, in addition to the main yakuya, who paid the same amount of labor services as a full member, later there were status distinctions such as half-yakuya and one-third-yakuya, and there was a tendency for them to be further divided. This is because the number of yakuya was fixed like a stock, and did not increase even with changes in the village structure.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

戦国～江戸時代に夫役 (ぶやく) を負担した農民の呼称。公事家 (くじや) ，役前，役軒などともいう。一般に村落中上層の屋敷所有農民で，夫役を負担しない無足人 (むそくにん) より身分が高く，また役家のなかでも一人前の夫役を負担する本役家のほか，のちには半役家，三分一役家などの身分的区別があり，さらに分割される傾向を生じた。役家の数は株のように固定していて，村落構造の変化によっても増さなかったためである。

出典　ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典ブリタニカ国際大百科事典小項目事典について　情報

<<: Medicinal plants - yakuyoshokubutsu

>>: Yakumo Misho