Samurais used to reside in the castle town and farmers reside in villages in the Edo period. Village was managed by Nanushi (village headman) and colleagues under the villagefs collective responsibility for the payment of Nengu.
The amount of Nengu is decided according to “Kenchi-chō” (land register) which records yield from each arable land. Nengu is a major source of revenue for the feudal lord and is a heavy burden for farmers. In about a harvest season, officials of the lord come to check the crop situation, decide the gross amount of Nengu in the village, and issue the notification “Nengu-waritsuke-jō”. Nanushi calculates and divides the amount into each farmerfs burden and record it on “Nengu-kowari-chō”. A record of the delivery of Nengu from a farmer to Nanushi is “Nengu-niwa-chō”. “Nengu-kaisai-mokuroku” is issued when all the delivery of Nengu to the lord is completed.
Delivery of Nengu (Annual Tribute), miniature
Kenchi-chō (land register) of Ōkubo village, 1631
Nengu-waritsuke-jō (notification of the gross amount of Nengu) of Tsuruma village, 1636
Kemi-negai (request for checking the crop) of Tsuruse village, 1846
Nengu-niwa-chō (record of the delivery of Nengu) of Ōkubo village, 1845
Nengu-kaisai-mokuroku (ledger of the delivered Nengu to the lord) of Ōkubo village, 1706
Nanbatajō Museum, Fujimi City Municipal Museum of History and Folklore