noun
perpetual land lease; perpetual tenant farming
A historical legal term for a permanent leasehold right on farmland, often associated with pre-modern Japanese land tenure systems. The term can refer to the right itself or the farmer holding it.
江戸時代には、永小作という制度が広く見られた。
During the Edo period, the system of perpetual land lease was widely seen.
彼の先祖は代々この土地の永小作だっ
His ancestors were perpetual tenant farmers on this land for generations.
Compound of 永 (long, perpetual) and 小作 (tenant farming). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the term emerged in the context of Japanese land law to describe permanent cultivation rights.