Changes

A number of different modes of currency were used throughout Japanese history, including, in the pre-modern period, the heavy use of Chinese coins. By the [[Edo period]], a relatively standardized system of gold and silver coinage was in place, though it experienced dramatic inflation and devaluation, among other financial crises, at times. Systems which served as precursors for a "modern" system of banks and paper currency, along with futures markets and other such economic/financial developments, emerged in the 18th-19th centuries, and beginning in the [[Meiji period]], "modern" systems based on the Western model were established.

A number of different modes of currency were used throughout Japanese history, including, in the pre-modern period, the heavy use of Chinese coins. By the [[Edo period]], a relatively standardized system of gold and silver coinage was in place, though it experienced dramatic inflation and devaluation, among other financial crises, at times. Systems which served as precursors for a "modern" system of banks and paper currency, along with futures markets and other such economic/financial developments, emerged in the 18th-19th centuries, and beginning in the [[Meiji period]], "modern" systems based on the Western model were established.

==Edo Period==

==Edo Period==

Samurai stipends in the Edo period were paid out in ''[[koku]]'', i.e. in rice. However, gold and silver coinage was used in everyday exchanges (especially among ''[[chonin|chônin]]''/commoners - peasants, merchants, artisans, etc.).

Samurai stipends in the Edo period were paid out in ''[[koku]]'', i.e. in rice. However, gold and silver coinage was used in everyday exchanges (especially among ''[[chonin|chônin]]''/commoners - peasants, merchants, artisans, etc.). In Edo, gold was more widely circulated, while in [[Kamigata]] (the Kyoto-Osaka area), silver was more commonly the mode of exchange.

Gold was exchanged in relatively standardized coins issued by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]], including the ''ôban'' and the ''koban'', worth different denominations of ''ryô''. A ''ryô'' was considered to be roughly equal to one ''koku'', which in turn is said to have been roughly the amount of rice needed to feed a man for a year. However, rice and gold prices fluctuated dramatically over the course of the period, and the exact amount of rice that comprised a ''koku'' is a subject of debate.

Gold was exchanged in relatively standardized coins issued by the [[Tokugawa shogunate|shogunate]], including the ''ôban'' and the ''koban'', worth different denominations of ''ryô''. A ''ryô'' was considered to be roughly equal to one ''koku'', which in turn is said to have been roughly the amount of rice needed to feed a man for a year. However, rice and gold prices fluctuated dramatically over the course of the period, and the exact amount of rice that comprised a ''koku'' is a subject of debate.