Already in the Nara period, dominating nobles occupied the countryside and established their own territories by privatizing reclaimed lands in accordance with the Act for the Privatization of Reclaimed Lands in Perpetuity.
既に奈良時代の段階で有力貴族たちは山野薮沢を占有し、墾田永年私財法を利用して墾田を私有化して自己の所領を形成する。