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Japanese coins first began to re-appear, and the volume of Chinese coins in circulation in Japan to drop, in the mid-15th century. Due to price fluctuations, Japanese merchants / tribute envoys in China found it more profitable to purchase goods - such as silk - in China to resell in Japan, rather than bringing Chinese coin back. Some areas in western Japan even began minting their own coins in imitation of the Chinese ones, and sending traders with Japanese coins to China to buy Chinese goods. Chinese coins from the late 15th century, e.g. those minted in the Hongzhi (1488-1506) reign, are quite rare finds for archaeologists in Japan today, and those from later reigns are almost entirely absent.<ref name=kobata99/>
Japanese coins first began to re-appear, and the volume of Chinese coins in circulation in Japan to drop, in the mid-15th century. Due to price fluctuations, Japanese merchants / tribute envoys in China found it more profitable to purchase goods - such as silk - in China to resell in Japan, rather than bringing Chinese coin back. Some areas in western Japan even began minting their own coins in imitation of the Chinese ones, and sending traders with Japanese coins to China to buy Chinese goods. Chinese coins from the late 15th century, e.g. those minted in the Hongzhi (1488-1506) reign, are quite rare finds for archaeologists in Japan today, and those from later reigns are almost entirely absent.<ref name=kobata99/>
In the Sengoku period (1467-1600), and especially as Japan began to become more integrated in the mid-to-late 16th century, regional ''daimyô'' began to expand their mining efforts, and gold and silver came to be more widely circulated, and exported. Gold dust had long been a common element in gifts (tribute) paid by samurai lords and shogunates to the Imperial Court; bags of gold dust of a designated size, called ''nô'' (納), were valued at 20 ''ryô''.<ref name=kobata101>Kobata. p101.</ref> In the central regions of the country, where mining was most prevalent, taxes came to increasingly be paid in gold and silver; this was then exchanged for coins or rice. ''Kin'ya'' and ''gin'ya'' (gold and silver dealers) emerged and enabled these conversion (exchange) transactions.
In the Sengoku period (1467-1600), and especially as Japan began to become more integrated in the mid-to-late 16th century, regional ''daimyô'' began to expand their mining efforts, and gold and silver came to be more widely circulated, and exported. Gold dust had long been a common element in gifts (tribute) paid by samurai lords and shogunates to the Imperial Court; bags of gold dust of a designated size, called ''nô'' (納), were valued at 20 ''ryô''.<ref name=kobata101>Kobata. p101.</ref> In the central regions of the country, where mining was most prevalent, taxes came to increasingly be paid in gold and silver; this was then exchanged for coins or rice. ''Kin'ya'' and ''gin'ya'' (gold and silver dealers) emerged and enabled these conversion (exchange) transactions. These dealers, along with firms officially licensed by the local lord, called ''ginza'' or ''tenbinza'', also dealt in producing, and certifying, pieces of gold and silver with a designated level of refinement or quality. Certified pieces, called ''hankin'' or ''gokuin-gin'' would be marked with numbers, ''kanji'', ''[[kao|kaô]]'' (monograms), or crests, indicating the firm's certification. The term ''hankin'' would later be used in the Edo period to refer chiefly to ''ôban'' coins, but in fact the term could be applied to all certified & marked pieces of gold.
In the Edo period, the ''ryô'' would become one of the more common monetary denominations, and would become intricately tied into the ''koku'', a measure of rice. However, prior to that time, the ''ryô'' was more closely related to a Japanese adaptation of the Tang system of measuring precious metals. In Tang China, precious metals were measured in "big" ''chin'' (J: ''kin'', 斤) and "small" ''chin'', and in "big" ''liang'' (J: ''ryô'') and "small" ''liang'',<ref>That is, ''da-chin'' 大斤 (J: ''dai-kin'') and ''xiao-chin'' 小斤 (J: ''shô-kin''), ''da-liang'' 大両 (J: ''dai-ryô'') and ''xiao-liang'' 小両 (J: ''shô-ryô'').</ref> with the smaller denomination being one-third that of the "large" denomination.<ref name=kobata101/> In the [[Nara period|Nara]] and Heian periods, Japan simply made use of the "small" Chinese denominations as a standard denomination, omitting the "small" designation. But by the end of the 13th century, the Japanese implemented their own system of denominations, equating one ''ryô'' of gold to four ''monme'' and five ''bu''<ref>With one ''monme'' being 3.75 grams, or ten ''bu''.</ref>.
In the Edo period, the ''ryô'' would become one of the more common monetary denominations, and would become intricately tied into the ''koku'', a measure of rice. However, prior to that time, the ''ryô'' was more closely related to a Japanese adaptation of the Tang system of measuring precious metals. In Tang China, precious metals were measured in "big" ''chin'' (J: ''kin'', 斤) and "small" ''chin'', and in "big" ''liang'' (J: ''ryô'') and "small" ''liang'',<ref>That is, ''da-chin'' 大斤 (J: ''dai-kin'') and ''xiao-chin'' 小斤 (J: ''shô-kin''), ''da-liang'' 大両 (J: ''dai-ryô'') and ''xiao-liang'' 小両 (J: ''shô-ryô'').</ref> with the smaller denomination being one-third that of the "large" denomination.<ref name=kobata101/> In the [[Nara period|Nara]] and Heian periods, Japan simply made use of the "small" Chinese denominations as a standard denomination, omitting the "small" designation. But by the end of the 13th century, the Japanese implemented their own system of denominations, equating one ''ryô'' of gold to four ''monme'' and five ''bu''<ref>With one ''monme'' being 3.75 grams, or ten ''bu''.</ref>.
For the sake of convenience, the ''ryô'' was, for a time in the late 16th century, devalued to four ''monme'' four ''bu''. Around the same time, the denomination ''mai'', equal to ten ''ryô'', was briefly used.
For the sake of convenience, the ''ryô'' was, for a time in the late 16th century, devalued to four ''monme'' four ''bu''. Around the same time, the denomination ''mai'', equal to ten ''ryô'', was briefly used.
Coins were minted from time to time in the Sengoku period by various local/regional power-holders, including lesser ''daimyô'', as well as the likes of [[Oda Nobunaga]]. [[Toyotomi Hideyoshi]], after securing control over most of the archipelago, minted coins as well. The so-called ''[[Tenshô-hishi-ôban]]'', an ''ôban'' coin shaped like a chestnut (''hishi''), was first minted in [[1588]], the sixteenth year of the Tenshô era; similar coins continued to be made for several years afterwards. However, the vast majority of such coins produced in the 16th century were ten ''ryô'' coins, produced to be given as gifts to loyal commanders, or for other similar purposes, and not for general circulation.<ref>Kobata. p105.</ref>
==Edo Period==
==Edo Period==
The use of the gold ''koban'', however, was most common 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. p490.</ref> and so in many parts of the country, particularly the active commercial centers of [[Kyoto]] and [[Osaka]], and other areas at a considerable distance from Edo, currency continued to be valued by weight, and not by face value. While gold coins were particularly standard in Edo, in the rest of the country, silver and copper coins remained quite common, and were valued by their weight, in ''momme''. One hundred ''momme'' were worth roughly one ''momme'' of silver, and one thousand ''momme'' was called one ''kanme''. Weights, previously not fully standardized, were in the Edo period restricted to those produced by the [[Goto family|Gotô family]], whose weights were to be used in all transactions for weighing out, for example, gold or silver. (Rice was measured by volume, not by weight.) [[Goto Tokujo|Gotô Tokujô]], who produced weights and coins for [[Oda Nobunaga]], and gold engraver [[Goto Yujo|Gotô Yûjô]] (1440-1512) were members/ancestors of this family.
The use of the gold ''koban'', however, was most common 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. p490.</ref> and so in many parts of the country, particularly the active commercial centers of [[Kyoto]] and [[Osaka]], and other areas at a considerable distance from Edo, currency continued to be valued by weight, and not by face value. While gold coins were particularly standard in Edo, in the rest of the country, silver and copper coins remained quite common, and were valued by their weight, in ''momme''. One hundred ''momme'' were worth roughly one ''momme'' of silver, and one thousand ''momme'' was called one ''kanme''. Weights, previously not fully standardized, were in the Edo period restricted to those produced by the [[Goto family|Gotô family]], whose weights were to be used in all transactions for weighing out, for example, gold or silver. (Rice was measured by volume, not by weight.) [[Goto Tokujo|Gotô Tokujô]], who produced weights and coins for [[Oda Nobunaga]], and gold engraver [[Goto Yujo|Gotô Yûjô]] (1440-1512) were members/ancestors of this family.
The Edo period monetary system, or at least its foundations, was established quite early in the period. In [[1601]] (Keichô 6), the Tokugawa oversaw the minting of a series of coins, in fairly large quantities, explicitly for circulation. The largest was the ''Keichô ôban'', worth 10 ''ryô''; the ''Keichô koban'' and ''ichibuban'', gold coins worth 1 ''ryô'' and 1 ''bu'' respectively, were "face value" coins, with the value of one ''bu'' dependent not directly on the weight of the gold coin, but rather tied to the rising or falling value of the ''koban''. Silver ''chôgin'' and ''mameita-gin'' coins continued to be valued by weight, and circulated in paper wrappings.<ref>Kobata. p106.</ref>
Regional currencies continued to be used for a time, along with ''hankin'' and ''gokuin-gin'' certified bullion. [[Kaga han]] ([[Ishikawa prefecture]]), which is still known today for its precious metals, was one of a number of places which had its own systems of certified bullion (mainly in silver), including what was called ''shuhô-gin'' - certified silver in a vermillion wrapper. Bullion sent to Edo or other parts of the country from these mining areas was often stamped or otherwise designated by marking for that region. To take just one example, bars from [[Niigata prefecture|Niigata]] were stamped with the character ''ei''/''sakae'' (栄, prosperity). [[Akita han]] was also a major mining and minting area, producing gold and silver ''sen'' (coins in the same form as copper coins traditionally), along with ''koban'', crude silver ore (''jô-gin''), and certified silver (''gokuin-gin''). Akita employed its own producers of weights and scales.<ref>Kobata. p107.</ref>
By the end of the 17th century, the shogunate took control of the minting of currency, of regional ''ginza'' and ''kinza'', and standardized the system, eliminating regional variant currencies. Though this might seem on the surface like it might stifle economic development, in fact, the opposite occurred, as regional differences in currency systems, and protective policies put in place by the various [[han|domains]], were eliminated, allowing freer circulation of money and goods throughout the country, especially in and out of the major economic centers of Edo and [[Osaka]].<ref>Kobata. p108.</ref>
At the same time, precious metals, especially silver, flowed out of the country in great volume, especially through [[Nagasaki]], and by the end of the 17th century, mining output declined dramatically. This led to dramatic devaluations in the coinage, and rampant inflation, at various times over the course of the Edo period, as the shogunate attempted to implement financial/monetary policies to address the declining supply of precious metal.
===Prices===
===Prices===
*800 ''ryô'' The salary of kabuki actor [[Ichikawa Danjuro I|Ichikawa Danjūrō I]] ([[1660]]-[[1704]]) peaked at this amount.<ref name=leiter/>
*800 ''ryô'' The salary of kabuki actor [[Ichikawa Danjuro I|Ichikawa Danjūrō I]] ([[1660]]-[[1704]]) peaked at this amount.<ref name=leiter/>
*1000 ''ryô'' - [[Yoshizawa Ayame I]] ([[1663]]-[[1729]]) was the first kabuki actor to attain an annual salary of this amount.<ref name=leiter/>
*1000 ''ryô'' - [[Yoshizawa Ayame I]] ([[1663]]-[[1729]]) was the first kabuki actor to attain an annual salary of this amount.<ref name=leiter/>
==Denominations Chart==
==Denominations Chart==
