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Though used in Japan since nearly the earliest times, silver became particularly prominent in regional maritime trade and domestic concerns in the 16th-18th centuries.

Though used in Japan since nearly the earliest times, silver became particularly prominent in regional maritime trade and domestic concerns in the 16th-18th centuries.

Silver was a major export of Japan in the 16th-17th centuries, with Japanese silver mines being in fact one of the chief sources of silver in the world market at that time, alongside the mines at Potosi in Bolivia.<ref>[[Kobata Atsushi]], "Production and Uses of Gold and Silver in Sixteenth- and Seventeeth-Century Japan," ''The Economic History Review'', New Series, 18:2 (1965), 245-266.</ref> Japan may have accounted for as much as one-third of the total world silver output at that time, exporting as much as 130,000-160,000 kg of silver just in the period 1615-1625 alone.<ref>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 16, 21.</ref> As silver was the chief means of payment for Chinese goods, it flowed out of the country in incredible amounts, via [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese]] and [[VOC|Dutch]] merchants at [[Nagasaki]], and via the [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]]-[[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]]-[[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]] trades. This considerable outflow became a major concern of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the 17th century, and various steps were taken in efforts to reduce the outflow of silver while trying to avoid any downward impact upon the volume of imports of Chinese [[silk]]. In the end, even as Japanese mines bled dry, by the 1760s<ref>Robert Hellyer cites [[1764]] as the turning point. Hellyer, 73.</ref> Japan had successfully halted the outflow of silver from the country, chiefly through processes of import- & export-substitution, and began to in fact ''import'' gold and silver.

Silver was a major export of Japan in the 16th-17th centuries, with Japanese silver mines being in fact one of the chief sources of silver in the world market at that time, alongside the mines at Potosi in Bolivia.<ref>[[Kobata Atsushi]], "Production and Uses of Gold and Silver in Sixteenth- and Seventeeth-Century Japan," ''The Economic History Review'', New Series, 18:2 (1965), 245-266.</ref> Japan may have accounted for as much as one-third of the total world silver output at that time, exporting as much as 130,000-160,000 kg of silver just in the period 1615-1625 alone,<ref>[[Marius Jansen]], ''China in the Tokugawa World'', Harvard University Press (1992), 16, 21.</ref> and more than one million kilograms of silver over the slightly longer period [[1604]] to [[1639]].<ref>Maria Grazia Petrucci, “Caught Between Piracy and Trade: The Shimazu of Southern Japan…”, in Robert Antony and Angela Schottenhammer (eds.), ''Beyond the Silk Roads'', Harrassowitz Verlag (2017), p111.</ref> As silver was the chief means of payment for Chinese goods, it flowed out of the country in incredible amounts, via [[Chinese in Nagasaki|Chinese]] and [[VOC|Dutch]] merchants at [[Nagasaki]], and via the [[Tsushima han|Tsushima]]-[[Joseon|Korea]] and [[Satsuma han|Satsuma]]-[[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]] trades. This considerable outflow became a major concern of the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the 17th century, and various steps were taken in efforts to reduce the outflow of silver while trying to avoid any downward impact upon the volume of imports of Chinese [[silk]]. In the end, even as Japanese mines bled dry, by the 1760s<ref>Robert Hellyer cites [[1764]] as the turning point. Hellyer, 73.</ref> Japan had successfully halted the outflow of silver from the country, chiefly through processes of import- & export-substitution, and began to in fact ''import'' gold and silver.

Throughout the Edo period, silver was measured chiefly by weight, not by coin, in everyday market interactions in [[Kamigata]] ([[Kansai]]), where it was the standard mode of [[currency]] ([[gold]] was more standard in [[Edo]]). The most common denomination of silver was a 43 ''[[Japanese Measurements|momme]]'' nugget called a ''chôgin''.<ref>[[Timon Screech]], ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 79.</ref>

Throughout the Edo period, silver was measured chiefly by weight, not by coin, in everyday market interactions in [[Kamigata]] ([[Kansai]]), where it was the standard mode of [[currency]] ([[gold]] was more standard in [[Edo]]). The most common denomination of silver was a 43 ''[[Japanese Measurements|momme]]'' nugget called a ''chôgin''.<ref>[[Timon Screech]], ''Obtaining Images'', University of Hawaii Press (2012), 79.</ref>

Though under the ''[[kango boeki|kangô bôeki]]'' tally trade system of the [[Muromachi period]] silver flowed chiefly from China into Japan (despite bans at times by the [[Ming Dynasty]] against any export of silver from China), by the 16th century, the direction reversed. China now demanded silver above all else, and exported relatively little of it, though it remained a prominent [[tribute]] good "gifted" in all directions within the tributary relationships in the region. The trade in silver for Chinese silks and other Chinese goods represented a significant portion of the maritime trade in the region throughout this period, and played a central role in the piracy/smuggling activities of the ''[[wako|wakô]]''.

Though under the ''[[kango boeki|kangô bôeki]]'' tally trade system of the [[Muromachi period]] silver flowed chiefly from China into Japan (despite bans at times by the [[Ming Dynasty]] against any export of silver from China), by the 16th century, the direction reversed. China now demanded silver above all else, and exported relatively little of it, though it remained a prominent [[tribute]] good "gifted" in all directions within the tributary relationships in the region. The trade in silver for Chinese silks and other Chinese goods represented a significant portion of the maritime trade in the region throughout this period, and played a central role in the piracy/smuggling activities of the ''[[wako|wakô]]''.

The [[Iwami Ginzan]] in [[Iwami province]] ([[Shimane prefecture]]) was the largest silver mine ever to operate in Japan, and was named a [[World Heritage Site]] in 2007.<ref>[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1246 Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape], UNESCO.</ref> The site was a particularly contested one during the [[Sengoku period]], with the [[Amako clan]] gaining control of the mines in [[1537]], losing them briefly to the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi]] in [[1539]] but regaining them just two years later, and then losing them again, this time to the [[Mori clan|Môri clan]], in [[1562]]. Mines in other parts of the country were significant as well, as regional ''daimyô'' began to mine more extensively, and gold and silver began to circulate more widely. In [[Noto province|Noto]], [[Suruga province|Suruga]], [[Kai province|Kai]] and [[Sado Island|Sado]] in particular, a combination of the opening of new mines, and the implementation of new technologies imported from China via Korea led to a considerable expansion in production from the 1530s onwards, making Japan a major world producer of silver up into the 17th century. Agents in service to the ''daimyô'' began to certify pieces of gold or silver as pure or authentic, a practice which continued into the 17th century, with the vermillion-wrapped ''shuhô gin'' produced by [[Kaga han]] a particularly famous and widely circulating example, though other domains also developed distinctive stamps for their silver bars.

The [[Iwami Ginzan]] in [[Iwami province]] ([[Shimane prefecture]]) was the largest silver mine ever to operate in Japan, and was named a [[World Heritage Site]] in 2007.<ref>[http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1246 Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape], UNESCO.</ref> The site was a particularly contested one during the [[Sengoku period]], with the [[Amako clan]] gaining control of the mines in [[1537]], losing them briefly to the [[Ouchi clan|Ôuchi]] in [[1539]] but regaining them just two years later, and then losing them again, this time to the [[Mori clan|Môri clan]], in [[1562]]. Using technology imported from China in the 1530s which increased extraction capabilities significantly, Iwami Ginzan was able to produce as much as 150 tons of silver each year in the 16th-17th centuries.<ref>Cesare Polenghi, ''Samurai of Ayutthaya: Yamada Nagamasa, Japanese warrior and merchant in early seventeenth-century Siam''. Bangkok: White Lotus Press (2009), 31.</ref>

 

Mines in other parts of the country were significant as well, as regional ''daimyô'' began to mine more extensively, and gold and silver began to circulate more widely. In [[Noto province|Noto]], [[Suruga province|Suruga]], [[Kai province|Kai]] and [[Sado Island|Sado]] in particular, a combination of the opening of new mines, and the implementation of new technologies imported from China via Korea led to a considerable expansion in production from the 1530s onwards, making Japan a major world producer of silver up into the 17th century. Agents in service to the ''daimyô'' began to certify pieces of gold or silver as pure or authentic, a practice which continued into the 17th century, with the vermillion-wrapped ''shuhô gin'' produced by [[Kaga han]] a particularly famous and widely circulating example, though other domains also developed distinctive stamps for their silver bars.

Meanwhile, independent dealers called ''kin'ya'' and ''gin'ya'' emerged, exchanging gold or silver for rice or other goods, in part in order to allow peasants and commoners to pay their taxes in the obligatory form.

Meanwhile, independent dealers called ''kin'ya'' and ''gin'ya'' emerged, exchanging gold or silver for rice or other goods, in part in order to allow peasants and commoners to pay their taxes in the obligatory form.