Study on characteristics and reality of "sho" in ancient Japan

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K00953
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 03020:Japanese history-related
• Research Institution: Hokkaido University
• Principal Investigator: OGURA Makiko 北海道大学, 文学研究院, 准教授 (30609897)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 日本古代 / 土地 / 荘園 / 庄 / 初期荘園 / 墾田

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study aims to inspect “sho”(庄) in historical materials of ancient Japan (the Nara and Heian periods) and clarify its characteristics and reality, especially paying attention to “sho” without farmland, which was been eliminated in previous studies of “shoen” (荘園; private estates).
Conclusions of this study are as follows; “sho” was private land with buildings such as warehouses, which functioned as a base of economic activities besides agriculture; before the 9th century, “sho” was basically managed under the same system whether it includes farmland or not; since the 10th century, “sho” which was established as a base of agriculture and included farmland was called “shoen”.

Free Research Field

日本古代史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の意義は、貴族や寺社による大土地所有と農地経営の成立・展開のみが対象とされてきた従来の荘園研究に対し、農業以外の産業も含めて日本古代の土地資源活用のあり方を捉え、当時の社会・経済の実態を理解することの重要性を提起した点にある。
このような視点は、古代に限らず、その他の時代における土地資源活用のあり方、ひいては現在の日本の社会における土地利用の特質を考察する上でも生かすことができる可能性がある。