1 Also pronounced koshu. The head of a household, responsible to the state for the behavior of household members, and for the payment of the taxes levied on the household as a unit. A significant part of the system of law codes ritsuryō 律令, which was first developed in the Nara period.
2 The name given to 1/32nd of the urban block chō 町 (see *machi ) in Heijōkyō 平城京 and Heiankyō 平安京. Each henushi measured 5 *jō 丈 (15.15 m) north to south, and 10 jō (30.30 m) east to west. They were arranged in four rows of eight plots, under the system known as shigyō hachimon 四行八門 system. Originally, the henushi was the smallest allotment awarded to an individual household in the capital. The term survived until the Kamakura period, but the henushi progressively lost its standard size and dimensions, through divided inheritance, sale, and purchase.