<p>I.Transportation Routes The special characteristics of medieval transportation routes in and out of Kuma gun (which includes Hitoyoshi no sho) were as follows : First, in spite of the provincial border barriers, they enabled Kuma gun to maintain close contacts with Masaki-in, Hyuga and Ushikuso-in, Satsuma, and also linked directly to Kuninaka, Higo, i.e., the Kumamoto plains. Second, of the communication links to each of the provincial seats in Hyuga, Osumi, and Satsuma, the function of a major artery connecting Kuma gun to Kyoto and Kamakura was assigned to the road to Hyuga over Kyushu's spinal mountain range. This choice was made because it passed through Taragi, the domain of the Hitoyoshi Sagaras' soryo (惣領). The weight placed on the Kuma-Hyuga route reflected the system of subordination of shoshi (庶子) to soryo. However, the internal disturbances that split the imperial lineages set the Hitoyoshi Sagaras and the Taragi Sagaras off against each other. Because this development made the road to Hyuga inaccessible, the Hitoyoshi Sagaras developed an alternate arterial route, called Sashiki Dori, in the direction of Yatsushiro Bay. This move corresponded to the weakening centripetal force directed toward Kyoto and Kamakura, i.e., the gradual breaking down of shoen (庄園) and gokenin (御家人) structures. Having acquired one transportation route in the direction of Yatsushiro Bay, the Hitoyoshi Sagaras cut another road, Azechi Dori, during the warring period for exclusively military purposes. II.Shinden Development (shinden 新田 -newly reclaimed rice fields) First, an attempt was made to reconstruct the Sagaras' hold as the jito (地頭) of Hitoyoshi no sho, on the area around Samuta Horinouchi, relying on the aerial photo, land registration map and on-the-spot investigations. In contrast to the rest of this general region, a rectangular pattern of land division indicated clearly the Sagaras' well planned development. A good illustration was the irrigation system. The Sagaras altered the natural course of water and dammed it to flow into Samuta Horinouchi. At the point of each change of course and at the springs on the plateau, temples (bodaiji 菩提寺) were constructed. Inasmuch as bodaiji had no familial ties to the Sagaras, we can assume that the temples functioned as places for popular worship. Any changes in the nature of the temples corresponded to the changes in the irrigation system. The above observation led to a conclusion that, in order to solidify their power, the Sagaras sought to control and develop old rice fields rather than open shinden. Secondly, the same attempt was made through examining the written documents. Here, it was found that, both the jito and the ryoke (領家) had definite limitations on shares (tokubun 得分) they could take from old rice fields called kishoden (起請田), leaving the peasants with a possibility of certain independence. In the case of shinden, however, only the ryoke's share was restricted, while the jito's share, having no set limitations, tended to absorb the entire surplus. Thus, the Sagaras succeeded in extending a tight control over shinden, which were synonymous to "jito-developed" rice fields. A land investigation of Shogen (1259 -60) indicates that ryoke were denied any share from these rice fields, and illustrates clearly the marked encroachment of jito-ryoshu power. The two examinations above led to seemingly contradictory conclusions regarding the nature of the Sagaras' power basis : kishoden from the on-the-spot investigation, and shinden from the written documents. The explanation is found in the changing designations for the rice fields : kishoden were transformed into "shinden" --that is, rice fields directly administered by the jito. This explains why, at the time of the Shogen investigation, the jito was able to deny the ryoke any share from the land. The figures in the Shogen land</p><p>(View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)</p>