Changes

==Meiji Period==

==Meiji Period==

The [[Meiji government]] began printing its own money almost immediately, in [[1868]]. These first notes were called ''Dajôkansatsu'', after the [[Dajokan|Dajôkan]] (Imperial Council of State). A new Currency Act was passed in [[1871]], establishing the [[yen]] as the core denomination of currency. The first national bank notes to feature a person's portrait depicted [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]], and came out in [[1881]].<ref name=currencymuseum/> The first one-yen coin was quite large by today's standards, possibly in emulation of the standard size of the internationally standard [[Spanish dollar|trade dollar]].<ref name=onaga>Conversation with Onaga Yoshiaki 翁長良明 of Narumi-dô antiques shop, Naha, Okinawa.</ref> The one-yen coin used today is dramatically smaller in size, and dramatically smaller in value (in terms of real purchasing power), due to inflation and other economic shifts over the years. Made of aluminum, it is made to be precisely two centimeters in diameter and one gram in weight.<ref name=onaga/>

The [[Meiji government]] began printing its own money almost immediately, in [[1868]]. These first notes were called ''Dajôkansatsu'', after the [[Dajokan|Dajôkan]] (Imperial Council of State). A new Currency Act was passed in [[1871]], establishing the [[yen]] as the core denomination of currency, and the Paper Money Bureau (within the [[Ministry of Finance]]) as the agency overseeing the production of new paper currency. [[Edoardo Chiossone]] and others were entrusted with designing bank notes that would be durable and difficult to fake. A German company was entrusted with producing the first new paper currency, and an American company with producing the first national bank notes. A printing plant was established at Ôtemachi in Tokyo, with printing presses imported from Germany. A two-story Western-style brick building, it was called the Chôyôkaku (朝陽閣).<ref>Gallery labels, National Archives of Japan.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/54292863327/sizes/o/]</ref>

 

The first national bank notes to feature a person's portrait depicted [[Empress Jingu|Empress Jingû]], and came out in [[1881]].<ref name=currencymuseum/> The first one-yen coin was quite large by today's standards, possibly in emulation of the standard size of the internationally standard [[Spanish dollar|trade dollar]].<ref name=onaga>Conversation with Onaga Yoshiaki 翁長良明 of Narumi-dô antiques shop, Naha, Okinawa.</ref> The one-yen coin used today is dramatically smaller in size, and dramatically smaller in value (in terms of real purchasing power), due to inflation and other economic shifts over the years. Made of aluminum, it is made to be precisely two centimeters in diameter and one gram in weight.<ref name=onaga/>

The [[Bank of Japan]] was established in [[1882]], and issued its first notes in [[1885]]; these notes, known as ''Daikoku satsu'', featured images of [[Daikoku]], one of the [[Seven Lucky Gods]]. A Coinage Law passed in [[1897]] set the economy onto the gold standard.<ref name=currencymuseum/>

The [[Bank of Japan]] was established in [[1882]], and issued its first notes in [[1885]]; these notes, known as ''Daikoku satsu'', featured images of [[Daikoku]], one of the [[Seven Lucky Gods]]. A Coinage Law passed in [[1897]] set the economy onto the gold standard.<ref name=currencymuseum/>