The may refer to:
The ministry, established by the Taihà  Code and Ritsuryà  laws, was one of the Eight Ministries, in the wing of four ministries reporting to the out of eight ministries. As the name indicates, this body was concerned with oversight over the affairs of the common people, viewed as taxable producers of goods. The ministry maintained various records: the population census sent from the provinces, cadastral (real estate) records, and tax accounting records.
The Yà Ârà  Code (a revised version of the Taihà  Code that created the ministry), stipulates the powers vested in the ministry, under its . There it is stated that : <blockquote>
</blockquote>
In the above "all provinces" does not include the capital. The census for the aristocracy who had clan names (uji or kabane) etc. was under the purview of the Jibu-shà  (Ministry of Civil Administration). And the ministry was not "directly responsible for the upkeep of roads, bridges, etc.," but merely kept such records for taxation and tax transportation tracking purposes.
The ministry issued order certificates or charters called the to officials and provincial governors (kokushi). The shà Âen system recognized private ownership of reclaimed rice-paddy lands, but did not automatically confer tax-exemption (as some misleading dictionary definitions suggest). From the early Heian period, the tax-exempt or leniency status was ratified by the certificate or charter () issued either by this ministry or the Great Council (daijà Â-kan) itself. (See ).
In the period (859âÂÂ877) occurred a breakdown of the Ritsuryà  system under the Fujiwara no Yoshifusa regime, with authorities of the ministries absorbed by the Great Council. The decree of Jà Âgan 4, VII, 27 (August 826) essentially stripped the ministry of its control over the tax-leniency policy, ordaining that all applications for tax relief would be decided completely by the Great Council of State (daijà Â-kan), and its ruling delivered directly to the countries by the Great Council's certificate (daijà Â-kan fu). The ministry still issued certificates for exemptions on the shà Âen estates, but this was just rubberstamping decisions from above, as before. These changes in the exercise of administration were codified in the and later Engishiki. The ministry was thus reduced to processing clerical responsibilities concerning the provinces.
The was headed by the minister, whose office was ordinarily filled by a son or close relative of the emperor, of the fourth grade or higher.
Under the Ministry were two bureaus:
The , the "Bureau of Computation" or "Bureau of Statistics." was in charge of two forms of taxes, the and the . The yà  was a form of conscripted compulsory labor, or more often the goods paid to be exempt from the obligation.
The , the "Tax Bureau," was in charge of the third form of tax, the . The three forms of taxes were known as under the Ritsuryà  system.
The was an ancillary facility to this ministry that stored a portion of the corvée tax (yà  of soyà Âchà Â) and , which were distributed during ceremonies and functions.