National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

The family register was made every six years as a basic account book for the Handen-Shuju land tenure system, etc., which was implemented on a family basis under the political system based on the ritsuryo codes. This is the family register of Chori of Nakatsu-gun of Buzen Province (around present-day Miyako-cho in Yukuhashi City of Fukuoka Prefecture) dated Taihô 2 (702). As for the description of the family, the householder is listed first, followed by the other members of the family in the order of blood relationship, with one name written on one line. As for each member of the family, information on the relationship with the householder, name, age and age bracket is added. The paper is stamped with the "Seal of Buzen Province" in red. This family register has 44 lines of text. The 7 lines on the extreme right are the data at the end of one family registry, indicating the statistics of the family members and the total allotments of personal rice fields for cultivation (Handen). It is followed by the family register in which the householder is Kawabe Katsuhoshi. Although the latter part of this family registry has been lost, there are still thirty-seven members in the remaining part. On the back of the paper, text that has nothing to do with the family register is written. The is because the back of the paper was used at the Shakyôsho sutra-copying office for a book for office documents after thirty years, i.e., the retention period of the family register, had elapsed.