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Japan - currency and regions
Japanese national currency history
In Japan, the history of money circulation
began with the use of cowrie shells as the first monetary units,
so the graphic element “shell” Zh is included in almost all
hieroglyphs, the etymology of which is related to financial
activities and payments. For example, the hieroglyph Zh "kau" -
"buy", y "zai" - "capital", |t "tameru" - "save", etc.
The first Japanese coins were made according to the Chinese
pattern. During the reign of the Tang Dynasty in China in 621, a
round bronze coin with a square hole in the middle was cast, it
was called kai-yuan-tong-bao. Diplomats and missionaries brought
such coins to Japan, where in 708
The first Japanese wadokaiho bronze coin was cast according to
their model. It also had a round shape and a square hole in the
center. On the sides of the hole, clockwise, there were four
hieroglyphs "wadokaiho". Of these, the first two hieroglyphs “wado”
are presumably the name of a historical era or the motto of a
good, happy omen, and the second two hieroglyphs “kaiho” are
literally translated as “value” or “jewel”, which can be
considered the first name of the monetary unit. Wadokaiho coins
were found during excavations at an archaeological site in the
Chichibu area of Saitama Prefecture.
From 708, for 250 years, the Japanese imperial court issued
12 more types of specie. Given such a variety, the distribution area of coins
was limited to the central regions, and the authorities made significant efforts
to activate monetary circulation among the population living in areas remote
from the capital. Also, due to the shortage of copper, the quality of coins was
steadily deteriorating, all this led to the fact that by the end of the 10th
century, the production of coins had practically stopped.
Over the next 200 years in Japan, the function of money was performed by such
valuable goods as rice and silk, they were a financial instrument in any
transactions. However, by the end of the Heian period (794-1185), in connection
with the development of agriculture, domestic state production and foreign trade
with China, there was an urgent need to introduce a monetary unit into
circulation. Coins brought from China, the so-called toraisen, are actively
beginning to be used. However, active internal and external trade demanded large
volumes of specie, therefore, from the beginning of the Muromachi era
(1336-1573), Japan began to mint its own Japanese coins, shichusen, following
the model of toraisen. These coins were privately produced by large clans and
wealthy merchants. There were various ways of minting shichusen, but still their
quality was much lower, than the Toraisen. Therefore, Chinese coins until the
16th century were considered a standard and served as a kind of standard for
assessing the value of local money.
Since the 16th century, Japan has entered a long period of internecine wars and
political fragmentation, the daimyo princes of strong clans, in an effort to
strengthen their positions, actively develop mining in their subordinate regions
in order to extract precious metals - gold and silver. Influential and wealthy
principalities begin to mint their own gold and silver coins. This money was
used for the next 150 years until the issue of a single state coin of the Bakufu
government of the Tokugawa shogunate. After the unification of the country under
the rule of the Tokugawa Ieyasu clan, who won victory in the historic battle of
Sekigahara, the shogunate began issuing a single state coin in 1601, this event
was followed by the release in 1670 of an official ban on the use of Chinese
toraisen coins. The monetary system was unified, and three types of coins were
put into circulation: gold, silver, and small bronze or iron coin sen. Also,
from the beginning of the 17th century, the first paper money began to be
printed. The existing system of monetary circulation did not have a clear
structure and was rather cumbersome. In addition to the central government, 244
more principalities received the right to print their paper banknotes. As a
result, along with gold and silver coins, various paper banknotes of individual
issue were actively used.
The next historical Meiji period, which was marked by the collapse of the Bakufu
government and the restoration of imperial power in 1868, brought new changes to
the monetary system of Japan. The new bourgeois government of the country
introduced the decimal system of the national currency. In 1869, a new monetary
unit was issued - the yen, which, as a result of the monetary reform of 1871,
was officially adopted as the basis of the national currency unit. According to
one version, the yen got its name thanks to
round shape (“en” in Japanese means “circle, circle”), this became its
distinctive feature, since the coins of the Edo period (1600-1868) had an oval,
rectangular or indefinite shape of a gold or silver bullion. The yen received
the status of an internationally recognized currency only in 1953, when the
International Monetary Fund approved its parity of 2.5 mg of gold.
Bank of Japan notes are currently in circulation in denominations of 1,000,
2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 yen. In addition, there are coins: 500-yen sample 1982
(nickel, with the image of paulownia), 100-yen sample 1962 (nickel, with the
image of sakura), 50-yen sample 1967 (nickel, with a hole in the center ,
depicting a chrysanthemum), 10-yen sample 1959 (bronze, depicting the Phoenix
Pavilion of Byodoin Monastery), 5-yen sample 1959 (bronze, with a hole in the
center, depicting a rice ear) and 1-yen-wai (aluminum, with the image of a young
tree). In Japan, after the end of the Second World War, commemorative coins
began to be issued, the theme for which was the Olympic Games, International
Exhibitions (Expo), etc., including the anniversary of the establishment of
local autonomies - prefectures,
Regionality and its importance in Japanese culture
Administrative division
Japan is known as a country with a small territory, but an
extremely diverse natural landscape. In a small area of the archipelago,
coastal fishing villages, and modern megacities, and overgrown with forests,
mountain corners remote from civilization, and islands scattered in the sea,
where a small number of people live, coexist. The natural landscape and resource
potential have influenced the formation of the economic and cultural
characteristics of each region. For example, proximity to the
multimillion-dollar Tokyo, large flat land, suitable for growing vegetables,
Saitama prefectures allowed it to become an agricultural and logistical center
"supplying" Tokyo. And Nagasaki - the southern sea gates of Japan - became the
only city where trade with Europeans (and only with the Dutch) was allowed on a
specially built (artificial, one and a half hectare) island of Dejima in the
period from 1641 to 1859, when the Japanese authorities carried out isolation
policy.
Historically, Japan was divided into provinces, headed by the feudal daimyo, who
had enormous powers. A curious fact is that these provinces were called kuni
(country), while each country is a province with great love cultivated its
regional differences: local crafts, culinary delights, dialect. Balancing
between the desire for independence and the location of the metropolitan
authorities, the Japanese regions have long competed with each other in winning
the glory of an honorable first place in a particular area. Undoubtedly, such
competition contributed to the development of technology, infrastructure,
improving the quality of manufactured goods and the search for its own regional
"brand". On the other hand, it also became the cause of political and military
confrontation.
The modern administrative division of Japan finally took shape during the period
of modernization of the country, known as the reforms of Emperor Meiji. By 1871,
as a result of transformations, instead of 300 provinces, there were 72, and in
1888 47 prefectures were finally established. The names of the prefectures have
changed, but still
Emperor Meiji
Since then, the old, "pre-revolutionary" names are present in geographical
names, trademarks of local products.
Currently, Japan consists of the following administrative entities: 1 capital
city of Tokyo (to:), 2 cities equivalent to prefectures: Kyoto and Osaka (fu),
Hokkaido Governorate (do:) and 43 prefectures (ken).
Small homeland: prefecture as a component of modern culture
Wherever a Japanese lives, the small homeland (furusato) -
the region from which he comes from, will always be of great importance to him.
Many Japanese in communication emphasize their regional features, which help
them to distinguish themselves in the team. For example, when coming to Russia,
the Japanese from the so-called snowy regions of Niigata or Toyama, located
along the coast of the Sea of Japan, always emphasize that it is easier for
them to adapt to the Russian winter than the inhabitants of the Pacific coast,
where snow is an extremely rare occurrence. Talking about their homeland, the
Japanese will talk not only about historical sights or architectural structures,
but also about folk crafts and, of course, about the food that this prefecture
is famous for. So, for a resident of the largest trading city of Osaka, an
integral part of the culture of this city, emphasizing its regional zest, there
will be an okonomiyaki dish. This is a very “democratic” dish, when all
participants in the meal fry together on a hot baking sheet a Japanese “pizza”
made from dough, to which cabbage, other vegetables and meat or seafood are
added. This dish emphasizes the character of the city - devoid of pretentious
aristocratic conventions in cooking, it is quickly prepared, tasty and
satisfying and will not hit your wallet - just what you need, it is very
suitable for trade people who are dynamically developing their business.
The development of regions is an urgent task of the authorities. The aging of
the population and the outflow of young people to the capital are becoming the
most pressing challenges for the Japanese province. Prefectural administrations
are doing their best to make their region attractive for living and for
tourists. An important place in this business is occupied by the so-called
branding: when a certain product or product becomes a kind of hallmark of the
region. For example, if it comes to Aomori Prefecture, which is in the very
north of the island of Honshu, then any Japanese will connect it with branded
apples. The history of Aomor apples began at the end of the 19th century, when
seedlings of new varieties of apple trees were brought to Japan from the United
States. The mild climate of Aomori is best suited for growing apples.
Now more than half of all apples in Japan are grown here. This is where the
selection takes place. In order for an ordinary apple to become a high-quality,
“branded” product without a single flaw, each apple is covered with an
individual paper bag during the ripening period, periodically turning the fruits
so that they evenly redden under the sun. Starting in August, Aomore branded
apples are sold in expensive department stores by the piece, with the amount of
sugar and a "honey ring" on the cut around the core. The production of juice,
jam and other products from apples is also established here. In other regions of
Japan, Aomore apple fairs are held, organizing delivery throughout the country.
The growing technology, sales, and policy of positioning apples as the
prefecture's signature product have made all other apples in Japan unrivaled.
The example of Aomori is very indicative in the sense that it reveals the
approach of the inhabitants of the region to fixing a certain segment in the
general panorama behind their edge.
In addition to food and culinary culture, similar processes are observed in the
popularization traditions, folk crafts, holidays and festivals, historical
sites, etc. Each city carefully preserves its history, finding unique features
in it and attracting tourists from all over the country with its local features.
For example, the city of Yokohama in Kanagawa Prefecture is located southeast of
Tokyo. Being a major seaport in Tokyo Bay, it was he who was the first to open
to foreign ships. Many foreign innovations appeared for the first time in Japan
here: newspapers, tennis, horse racing, and even a public toilet. The mixture of
languages and cultures, Western-style buildings, Chinatown and the atmosphere
of the port city create a special aura of Yokohama, the city - a small "foreign"
city within Japan: if you want to see everything "foreign" - go to Yokohama for
a day!
This attitude of the Japanese towards the regions, the desire to emphasize the
uniqueness of each region of Japan is reflected in numerous series of
photographic exhibitions, magazines and books, paintings and contemporary art,
exhibitions of manufactured goods and folk crafts, representing all the
prefectures of Japan.
The series of coins issued on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the
formation of the modern administrative division of Japan fully fits into this
“regional” aspect of the existence of Japanese culture.
Japanese coins
Japan before 1948 | Japanese modern coins | Japanese commemorative coins