Shoto (所当)

Shoto was the tax levied on paddy fields and dry fields in the Medieval period. It was treated as a pair with kuji (pubic duties), and seen generally to be the same as nengu (land tax), but they were originally different.

The word originally meant 'corresponding to,' or 'correct,' and this meaning had been used in general for a long time. Shoto,' which meant tax, originally indicated taxes properly levied such as kanmotsu (produce tax), zoyaku (miscellaneous labor services), and jishi (land tax); but from the beginning of the 12th century, 'shoto' solely meant a regular levy (in contrast to such extraordinary levies as kuji and extraordinary odd-jobs). In the Kamakura period, the word meant a regular levy on paddy fields and dry fields, and began to be interchanged with 'nengu' which originally had a similar meaning.

[Original Japanese]