Jitō

Jitō (地頭) were medieval land stewards in Japan, especially in the Kamakura and Muromachi Shogunates. Appointed by the shogun, jitō managed manors including national holdings governed by the provincial governor (kokushi).

The term jitō (literally meaning "land head") began to be used in the late Heian period as an adjectival word like "local". For example, a jitō person (地頭人) meant an influential local. Later, the term was sometimes used for persons who managed each local manor. Modern historians cannot clarify the character of the early jitō appointed by Yoritomo, as the conditions of these precursors are not well known.

Jitō were officially established when Minamoto Yoritomo was appointed to the office of Head of jitō by the Imperial court with the right to their appointment. Yoritomo appointed many jitō nationwide, however mainly in Kantō. During the Kamakura period, the jitō were chosen amongst the gokenin (the shogun's vassals) who handled military affairs. Jitō handled the taxation and administration of the manor to which they were appointed, and directly administrated the lands and the farmers of the manor.

Jitō (period)

The Jitō period is a chronological timeframe during the Asuka period of Japanese history. The Jitō period describes a span of years which were considered to have begun in the 1347th year of the Yamato dynasty.

This periodization is congruent with the reign of Empress Jitō, which is traditionally considered to have been from 686 through 697.

Periodization

The adoption of the Sexagenary cycle calendar (Jikkan Jūnishi) in Japan is attributed to Empress Suiko in 604; and this Chinese calendar continued in use throughout the Jitō period.

In 645, the system of Japanese era names (年号,, nengō,, lit. "year name") was introduced. However, after the reign of Emperor Kotoku, this method of segmenting time was temporarily abandoned or allowed to lapse. This interval continued during the Jitō period.

Neither Empress Jitō's reign nor the Jitō periodization are included in the list of nengō for this explicit duration of time, which comes after Suchō and before Taihō.

In the post-Taika or pre-Taihō chronology, the first year of Empress Jitō's reign (持統天皇元年 or 斉持統皇1年) is also construed as the first year of the Jitō period (持統1年).

Jito (footballer)

Juan José Silvestre Cantó (born 2 March 1980 in Barcelona, Catalonia), commonly known as Jito, is a Spanish footballer who plays for Sestao River Club as a striker.

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