There is a view that the Hoken system in its true sense did not exist in Japan, because the Hoken system of feudal lords was just 'the right to collect taxes' (see Shiki system), and there was no private ownership of land and rights of control over the people as serfs in the domain, which were commonly seen in the West.
日本の領主の封建制は「税の徴収権」に過ぎず（参照→職の体系）、つまり西欧に見られるような領地の私有と領民への農奴としての隷属的支配権は存在しなかったので、本当の意味の封建制は存在しなかったとする説もある。