Changes

*''Japanese'': 金 ''(kin)'', 黄金 ''(ougon)''

*''Japanese'': 金 ''(kin)'', 黄金 ''(ougon)''

Though used in Japan since nearly the earliest times, '''gold''', like [[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, '''gold''', like [[silver]], became particularly prominent in regional maritime trade and domestic concerns in the 16th-18th centuries. Throughout the 17th century, Japan was one of the world's primary sources of copper, silver, and gold.<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). pp245-266.</ref>

Gold is also used extensively in traditional arts, especially in the form of [[gold leaf]] or gold foil. Expensive handscrolls are often painted on gold-flecked paper, and [[lacquerwares]] often incorporate sprinkled flecks of gold foil, a technique known as ''maki-e''. Gold foil is also commonly used as the backing for folding screens.

Gold is also used extensively in traditional arts, especially in the form of [[gold leaf]] or gold foil. Expensive handscrolls are often painted on gold-flecked paper, and [[lacquerwares]] often incorporate sprinkled flecks of gold foil, a technique known as ''maki-e''. Gold foil is also commonly used as the backing for folding screens.

==History==

==History==

===Edo Period===

===Edo Period===

Gold coins became one of the chief modes of high-value [[currency]] in the [[Edo period]]. While gold or copper coins valued at face value (e.g. a 1 ''ryô'' coin worth 1 ''ryô'', or a one ''mon'' coin worth one ''mon'') were the more standard mode of currency in [[Edo]], silver valued by weight was more commonly used in the [[Kamigata]] region (i.e. [[Kyoto]] and [[Osaka]]).

Gold coins became one of the chief modes of high-value [[currency]] in the [[Edo period]]. Perhaps the most common denomination of gold currency was the ''koban'', with a face value of 1 ''ryô''. However, this was most commonly used and circulated in and around Edo, and the farther one traveled from Edo, the less standard it became. At the beginning of the Edo period, there were over one hundred types of gold coins in circulation.<ref>Crawcour and Yamamura, 490.</ref> In many other parts of the archipelago, including in the [[Kamigata]] region (i.e. [[Kyoto]] and [[Osaka]]), silver valued by weight was the more common medium of exchange. While one gold ''ryô'' was ostensibly equal in value to one ''[[koku]]'' of rice, the value of gold increased dramatically over the course of the Edo period relative to that of rice, making many merchants who earned their incomes in silver and gold considerably wealthier than many samurai whose stipends were fixed to an amount of rice.<ref>Screech, Timon. "Owning Edo-Period Paintings." in Lillehoj, Elizabeth (ed.) ''Acquisition: Art and Ownership in Edo-Period Japan''. Floating World Editions, 2007. p34.</ref> That said, though stipends were officially measured in rice, samurai were often paid in a combination of rice and gold coinage.<ref>Craig, Teruko (trans.). ''Musui's Story: The Autobiography of a Tokugawa Samurai''. University of Arizona Press, 1988. p.xv.</ref>

The [[Tokugawa shogunate]] debased and revalued coinage a number of times over the course of the Edo period in response to declining supplies of precious metals or other economic trends. One notable instance of this took place in [[1695]], when the shogunate ordered that newly-minted gold coins be made of only 57% gold, a reduction from their previous percentage. Silver coins were reduced from 80% silver to 64% at this same time.<ref name=hellyer59>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 59.</ref> That same year, the shogunate banned the export of gold and tightened restrictions on the export of silver.<ref name=hellyer59/>

The [[Tokugawa shogunate]] debased and revalued coinage numerous times over the course of the Edo period in response to declining supplies of precious metals or other economic trends. One notable instance of this took place in [[1695]], when the shogunate ordered that newly-minted gold coins be made of only 57% gold, a reduction from their previous percentage. Silver coins were reduced from 80% silver to 64% at this same time.<ref name=hellyer59>Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 59.</ref> That same year, the shogunate banned the export of gold and tightened restrictions on the export of silver.<ref name=hellyer59/> The shogunate further debased the coinage nineteen times between [[1819]] and [[1837]] alone.<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, David Lurie, and Suzanne Gay, ''A Brief History of Japanese Civilization'', Wadsworth Cengage (2013), 153.</ref>

A number of gold mines flourished in early modern Japan; perhaps the most famous is the [[Sado gold mine]] on [[Sado Island]]. Gold mining, or panning for gold in streams and rivers, was a prominent element of Wajin (Japanese) economic activities in early modern [[Ezo]] (Hokkaido) as well. By [[1669]], there were seven "mining" areas in [[Ainu]] lands and two in Japanese-controlled areas of Ezo, dominated primarily by the panning for gold dust or gold pebbles rather than outright mining. Gold panning activities altered the paths of many rivers as well as polluting the waters, which had a significant negative impact upon the [[salmon]] and other river-based resources that many Ainu communities relied upon for food and for trading.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52227211890/sizes/h/]</ref>

A number of gold mines flourished in early modern Japan; perhaps the most famous is the [[Sado gold mine]] on [[Sado Island]], which was controlled by the shogunate. [[Kaga han]] and [[Akita han]] also became major centers of mining.<ref>Kobata, 107.</ref> Gold mining, or panning for gold in streams and rivers, was a prominent element of Wajin (Japanese) economic activities in early modern [[Ezo]] (Hokkaido) as well. By [[1669]], there were seven "mining" areas in [[Ainu]] lands and two in Japanese-controlled areas of Ezo, dominated primarily by the panning for gold dust or gold pebbles rather than outright mining. Gold panning activities altered the paths of many rivers as well as polluting the waters, which had a significant negative impact upon the [[salmon]] and other river-based resources that many Ainu communities relied upon for food and for trading.<ref>Gallery labels, Hokkaido Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/52227211890/sizes/h/]</ref>

While Japan was a significant exporter of precious metals, especially silver, in the late 16th to early 18th centuries, by the mid-to-late 18th century, many of Japan's gold, silver, and copper mines were approaching exhaustion.<ref name=hellyer5259/> Around the 1760s, Japan began to ''import'' gold and silver. The ''[[Nagasaki kaisho]]'' clearinghouse then began to levy taxes on these imports: 35% on gold and 7-9% on silver. The revenues from these levies went a long way to supporting the ''kaisho'', and the people of [[Nagasaki]], while the remainder of the gold and silver was sent to the shogunate's treasuries.<ref>Hellyer, pp84-85.</ref>

While Japan was a significant exporter of precious metals, especially silver, in the late 16th to early 18th centuries, by the mid-to-late 18th century, many of Japan's gold, silver, and copper mines were approaching exhaustion.<ref name=hellyer5259/> Around the 1760s, Japan began to ''import'' gold and silver. The ''[[Nagasaki kaisho]]'' clearinghouse then began to levy taxes on these imports: 35% on gold and 7-9% on silver. The revenues from these levies went a long way to supporting the ''kaisho'', and the people of [[Nagasaki]], while the remainder of the gold and silver was sent to the shogunate's treasuries.<ref>Hellyer, pp84-85.</ref>

===Meiji Period===

===Meiji Period===

In [[1897]], Japan switched from a ''de facto'' silver standard to a gold standard.

In [[1897]], Japan switched from a ''de facto'' silver standard to a gold standard.<ref>Pamphlet, Currency Museum of Japan.</ref>

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==References==

==References==

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[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Edo Period]]

[[Category:Economics]]

[[Category:Economics]]