Zaike (Min-oku) (在家 (民屋))
Zaike was a house, and the cultivated land and residents belonging to the house. It was also used as a unit (Zaikeyaku) for collecting taxes (land tax, public duties, labor services) within shoen (landed estates) or koryo (public lands).
Summary
Under the tax collection system established in the Medieval period taxes relating to public duties and labor services, which were kinds of zoyaku (odd-jobs tasks), were assessed for myoden (rice field lots) as a collection unit; on the other hand, taxes relating to public duties and labor services were collected in regions where myoden had not sufficiently established or from people who did not belong to the ruling system of shoen (manor) and koryo (mainly non-cultivators) (mostly non-farmer), such as kugonin (groups of producer-merchants) or jinin (shrine dependents) by assessing for zaike as a collection unit. Particularly, in Togoku (eastern Japan) and Kyushu where zaichi ryoshu (local proprietors) became similar to Nanushi (village headmen) and Hyakusho-myo (smaller holdings of shoen held by ordinary peasants) were not established, many Zaikeyaku were levied. Zaike could be categorized as slaves similar to genin (the base) and shoju (followers); but, zaike was considered differently in each region, and besides, there was no record indicating that ryoshu in fact controlled zaike. Zaike were confirmed through kenchu (land survey) and taxes were equally assessed in principle; zaike which were fixed to the kenchucho (land survey ledger) were called honzaike (main zaike), and newly added zaike were called waki zaike (branch zaike) or shin zaike (new zaike).