Halloween with a Japanese twist
Halloween, a festival that originated in the Western world, has gradually found its way into the heart of Japan.
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The Japanese “Yen” – a Misspelled Currency
Like many things in history, the Japanese national currency or modern monetary unit, (New Currency Act of 1871) – “Yen” is a misspelling of the word “En”(円), which means “round object”. The modern Yen moves in the current financial world by the symbol ¥, code JPY and abbreviation JP¥ and is the third (after the US dollar and Euro) most traded currency in the foreign exchange market.
Currencies in the Antiquity
Before the 7th-8th centuries CE, Japan used commodity money for trading. Ideally, commodity money had to be widely accepted, easily portable and storable, and easily combined and divided in order to correspond to different values. The main items of commodity money in were arrowheads, rice grains and gold powder. Coins were introduced in Japan by the seventh century, when the country adopted various social systems from China (Tang Dynasty) in order to build a centralised government. During this process, coins modeled after Chinese ones were issued. Three types of copper coins were minted in the Nara period (710 – 794), including the Wado Kaichin coin, and nine types in the Heian period (794 – 1185).
The Fuhon-sen coin is thought to be the silver coin referred in the rescript mentioned in the Nihon Shoki, written in the 8th century. They are Mumon Gin-sen coins, unearthed in the Kinki area. On the right is the highlighted entry of the Nihon Shoki of Emperor Tenmu 12th year mandating the use of copper coins.
Back to rice and Chinese Coinage: 10th to 17th century
By the middle of the 9th century, the value of a coin in rice fell to 1/150th. The coinage system became strongly debased, and its metallic content and value decreased. Consequently, it led to the abandonment of the national currency, and the mintage of copper coins was suspended. It went back to the use of commodity such as, rice, silk and (hemp) clothes, as money. Yet carrying them as currency was inconvenient, thus, a credit economy emerged and government offices in the capital issued payment orders to rice warehouses under their jurisdiction. These documents played the role of present-day checks.
From the 12th century, the expansion of trade and barter again highlighted the need for a currency. Chinese coinage came to be used as the standard currency of Japan, for a period lasting from the 12th to the 17th century, but with the growth of the economy and trade, small copper currency became insufficient to cover the amounts that were being exchanged.
During the Sengoku period (1467 – 1600), local lords developed trade, abolishing monopolistic guilds, which led to the need for large-denomination currencies. From the 16th century, local experiments started to be made, with the minting of local coins, sometimes in gold. Hideyoshi unified Japan, and thus centralised most of the minting of large denomination silver and gold coins, effectively putting in place the basis of a unified currency system. In 1588, Hideyoshi developed the large Ōban plate, also called the Tenshō Ōban (天正大判), a predecessor to Tokugawa gold coinage.
The Tokugawa Coinage: 17th to later 19th century
Tokugawa Ieyasu placed the mines under his direct control and promoted the improvement of the mintage technology for the establishment of gold and silver mints known as “kobanza” and “ginza.” Initially, the Tokugawa Shogunate government commissioned the mintage of these coins to copper mints (“zeniza”) across the country with fixed-term licenses.
Main coins of Tokugawa coinage. A large ovoid gold Koban, under it a small gold Ichibuban, top right a silver Ichibugin, under it a silver Ichibuban and a bronze round Kan'ei tsūhō Mon
During the 17th century, feudal domains developed a system of feudal notes, the Yamada Hagaki. Thus, combined gold, silver, and copper standards with the circulation of paper money
After the collapse of Tokugawa coinage with the reopening of the country, in 1854, by 1859 Mexican dollars became official currency in Japan. By coining them with marks in Japanese and officialising their exchange rate of three "Bu". They were called Aratame Sanbu Sadame (改三分定, meaning, fixed to the value of three bu.
The Meiji Restoration and Foundation of the Bank of Japan
Through the New Currency Act of 1871, Japan adopted the gold standard along international lines, with 1 yen corresponding to 1.5g of pure gold. In order to regularize the issuance of convertible banknotes, the Bank of Japan, was established in 1882. It also stabilised the currency by centralizing the issuance of convertible banknotes. The first central banknotes were issued in 1885.
1-yen banknote (1873), engraved and printed by the Continental Bank Note Company of New York
The front of a Japanese 50 sen bill from 1946
In 1946, following the Second World War, Japan removed the old currency and introduced the “New Yen”. Since then, together with the economic expansion of Japan, the yen has become one of the major currencies of the world.
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