In Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures, so far as the author knows, there are 17 places named ‘Ho Hatcho’ which means eight cho square. The area covering these three prefectures used to be called Mutsu in ancient Japan as an eastern frontier of the country. In Yamagata and Akita prefectures which correspond to Dewa, a northern frontier of the same period, we do not find any ‘Ho Hatcho, ’ but quite a few sites named ‘Hatcho, ’ several of which are villages of the type similar to ‘Ho Hatcho.’ Neither ‘Ho Hatcho’ nor ‘Hatcho, ’ however, is to be seen in the most northern prefecture Aomori.
Of the seventeen villages of the ‘Ho Hatcho’ type, eleven lie on the low land, three on the river terrace and three on the gently-sloping low upland. The basic form of the first eleven villages is described by their enclosures such as mounds, fences and trenches. The arable lands inside or outside these enclosures are considered to have been allotted on the grid pattern at intervals of one cho.
I would regard the villages on the low land, therefore, as farm villages intentionally built for the purpose of cultivating the land. I also regard those on the upland as stations because they are scattered along traffic roads, and those on the river terrace as having had the function of a river port.
From the later seventh century to the early ninth century, the Government sent many settlers to the frontiers from every part of the country.
To cite the example of Izawa ‘gun’ which holds larger number of ‘Ho Hatcho’s than any other region, many of the ‘go’ names appearing within this ‘gun’ coincide with those of ‘kuni’ originally given to other parts of Japan, like Shinano ‘go’ corresponding to Shinano ‘kuni.’ The inhabitants of Izawa ‘gun’ are thus considered to have consisted of colonists from outside.
The law enforced in the eighth century says, “Keep the people living on the frontier in a fort.” I think, for this reason, that it was in conformity with this law that the ‘Ho Hatcho’ plan was laid down.
But the present Iwate prefecture, where villages of the ‘Ho Hatcho’ type are most found, is known to have come under Government control at the beginning of the ninth century. So it is my opinion that the villages of ‘Ho Hatcho’ type were actually established around that time.

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