also: ほんがん
registered domicile (ritsuryō period); hometown
Historical term for one's officially registered place of residence under the ritsuryō system; also used more loosely for one's hometown or ancestral home.
Under the ritsuryō system, people had their family register in their registered domicile.
彼の本貫は信濃国だったと伝えられている。
His registered domicile is said to have been Shinano Province.
Standard kanji spelling for this historical term.
Alternate reading; less common than ほんかん.
A term of classical Chinese origin combining 本, “origin,” and 貫, “native place or registered affiliation.” In Japan it designated the locality to whose household register a person belonged under the 律令 system.