In feudal Japan, a land steward appointed by the central military government to each of the estates ( sh 014D; en ) into which the countryside was divided.
The jit 014D; collected taxes and maintained the peace; he was also entitled to a portion of the taxes collected. The position, created by Minamoto Yoritomo in 1184, came to be hereditary. As time went by, the jit 014D; came to have closer ties with local leaders than with the central government, which contributed to the weakening of the Kamakura shogunate (see Kamakura period ).