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Created page with "*''Japanese'': 銀 ''(gin)'' Though used in Japan since nearly the earliest times, silver becomes particularly prominent in regional maritime trade and domestic concerns in t..."
*''Japanese'': 銀 ''(gin)''
Though used in Japan since nearly the earliest times, silver becomes 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> 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]].
==Sixteenth Century==
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. 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.
==Seventeenth Century==
In the 17th century, the Tokugawa shogunate tested out a variety of policies in efforts to stem the tide of silver exports. The [[1655]] abolition of the ''[[itowappu]]'' silk monopoly, established in [[1604]], was one such effort, but it backfired; the free competition that emerged after the dissolution of the monopoly caused silk prices to rise, which only served to increase the amount of silver leaving the country for the same amount of imported silk.
In [[1671]], a system was put into place in which Japanese officials set the prices for imports. This worked to some extent, and was manageable largely because [[Qing Dynasty]] bans on maritime activity along the South China coast reduced the number of ships calling at Nagasaki. Once those bans were lifted in [[1684]], the number of ships more than tripled, leading the shogunate to impose a series of quotas the following year. Chinese merchants were not to engage in more than 6000 ''kan'' (a unit of silver) worth of trade, and Dutch merchants not more than 3000. After those numbers were reached for the year, additional ships were turned away. Satsuma and Tsushima han were requested to implement similar restrictions in their trade with Ryûkyû and Korea, respectively. Despite these restrictions, however, a certain rather significant amount of silver was required to be provided to Ryûkyû and Korea, to pay in [[tribute]], in turn, to China. Ryûkyû often borrowed considerably from Satsuma to afford this, and both Satsuma and Tsushima often borrowed in turn from the merchant class.
At the end of the 17th century, the shogunate put an end to regional/domain minting of coins (or ingots), claiming for itself exclusive rights to such activity, and establishing mints (''[[ginza]]'') in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
==Eighteenth Century==
The dearth of silver in the country led to numerous remintings and depreciations of the [[currency]], with the Yotsuhô currency issued in [[1711]] the most depreciated in the period, at only 20% pure silver. One of the first major instances of this took place in [[1695]], when the government moved from 80% silver Keichô coins to 64% silver [[Genroku]] coins. A series of coins minted in [[1736]], known as Genbun coins, were 46% silver.
Throughout the Edo period, however, 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>
Further bans or restrictions on the export of silver via Nagasaki were issued in [[1763]]. In [[1779]], the shogunate banned the circulation of ''[[nanryoni|nanryôni]]'', pure silver coinage, switching over more exclusively to coins of gold-silver alloy, as well as copper coins.
By the mid-to-late 18th century, many of Japan's [[gold]], silver, and [[copper]] mines were approaching exhaustion.
{{stub}}
==References==
*Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 52-
<references/>
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Economics]]
Though used in Japan since nearly the earliest times, silver becomes 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> 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]].
==Sixteenth Century==
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. 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.
==Seventeenth Century==
In the 17th century, the Tokugawa shogunate tested out a variety of policies in efforts to stem the tide of silver exports. The [[1655]] abolition of the ''[[itowappu]]'' silk monopoly, established in [[1604]], was one such effort, but it backfired; the free competition that emerged after the dissolution of the monopoly caused silk prices to rise, which only served to increase the amount of silver leaving the country for the same amount of imported silk.
In [[1671]], a system was put into place in which Japanese officials set the prices for imports. This worked to some extent, and was manageable largely because [[Qing Dynasty]] bans on maritime activity along the South China coast reduced the number of ships calling at Nagasaki. Once those bans were lifted in [[1684]], the number of ships more than tripled, leading the shogunate to impose a series of quotas the following year. Chinese merchants were not to engage in more than 6000 ''kan'' (a unit of silver) worth of trade, and Dutch merchants not more than 3000. After those numbers were reached for the year, additional ships were turned away. Satsuma and Tsushima han were requested to implement similar restrictions in their trade with Ryûkyû and Korea, respectively. Despite these restrictions, however, a certain rather significant amount of silver was required to be provided to Ryûkyû and Korea, to pay in [[tribute]], in turn, to China. Ryûkyû often borrowed considerably from Satsuma to afford this, and both Satsuma and Tsushima often borrowed in turn from the merchant class.
At the end of the 17th century, the shogunate put an end to regional/domain minting of coins (or ingots), claiming for itself exclusive rights to such activity, and establishing mints (''[[ginza]]'') in Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto.
==Eighteenth Century==
The dearth of silver in the country led to numerous remintings and depreciations of the [[currency]], with the Yotsuhô currency issued in [[1711]] the most depreciated in the period, at only 20% pure silver. One of the first major instances of this took place in [[1695]], when the government moved from 80% silver Keichô coins to 64% silver [[Genroku]] coins. A series of coins minted in [[1736]], known as Genbun coins, were 46% silver.
Throughout the Edo period, however, 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>
Further bans or restrictions on the export of silver via Nagasaki were issued in [[1763]]. In [[1779]], the shogunate banned the circulation of ''[[nanryoni|nanryôni]]'', pure silver coinage, switching over more exclusively to coins of gold-silver alloy, as well as copper coins.
By the mid-to-late 18th century, many of Japan's [[gold]], silver, and [[copper]] mines were approaching exhaustion.
{{stub}}
==References==
*Robert Hellyer, ''Defining Engagement'', Harvard University Press (2009), 52-
<references/>
[[Category:Sengoku Period]]
[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Economics]]