At that time, it became difficult to maintain control over each person like in the Ritsuryo system (a system of centralized government based on the ritsuryo code), based on a family registration system and Handen Shuju ho (the law of periodic reallocations of rice land), and therefore, kokushi (provincial governors) reorganized Koden (fields administered directly by a ruler) into myoden (rice field lots in charge of a nominal holder) and came to entrust the work of managing myoden and collecting taxes from there to powerful farmers (called tato).
古代の戸籍制度・班田収授法などによる律令制的な人別支配の維持が困難となっていた当時、国司は公田を名田という単位へ再編するとともに、有力農民層（田堵という）へ名田の経営と名田からの租税徴収を請け負わせていった。