Among honke and ryoke, both of which are the lords of the manor of Nihon-shoen (manor in medieval Japan), honjo was the lord that had the right to assert Shomu (management and control of encouragement of agriculture, taxes and so on in shoen), or in other words, had the effective dominion over the shoen.
本所（ほんじょ）は、日本荘園の荘園領主である本家および領家のうち、荘務を行う権限、すなわち荘園の実効支配権を有した者をいう。