Tokugawa coinage

Tokugawa coinage was a unitary and independent metallic monetary system established by Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu in 1601 in Japan, and which lasted throughout the Tokugawa period until its end in 1867.

The establishment of Tokugawa coinage followed a period in which Japan was dependent on Chinese bronze coins for its currency. Tokugawa coinage lasted for more than two centuries, and ended with the events of the Boshin war and the establishment of the Meiji restoration.

The first attempt at a new currency were made by Hideyoshi, who developed the large Ōban plate, also called the Tensho Ōban (天正大判), in 1588.

From 1601, Tokugawa coinage was minted in gold, silver, and bronze denominations. The denominations were fixed, but the rates actually fluctuated on the exchange market.

The material for the coinage came from gold and silver mines across Japan. To this effect, gold mines were newly opened and exploited, such as the Sado gold mine or the Toi gold mine in Izu Peninsula.

Initially, the coinage was used essentially for export purposes in order to pay for imports of luxury goods from China, such as silk. As gold and silver were in short supply, and also because the government was running a deficit, the content of gold in coins was decreased on two occasions, in 1695 and 1706-1711, in order to generate more revenues from seigneurage, but with the effect of generating inflation.

With the beginning of the 18th century, Japan started to restrict the export of bullion currency, which came to be seen as a loss for the country. An export ban on monetary specie was imposed by Arai Hakuseki in 1715. Trade substitution was encouraged, but remained limited anyway due to the policy of closure, or Sakoku. Upon Arai Hakuseki's suggestion the government increased again the gold and silver content of coinage in 1714-1715, but this led to crippling deflation this time. In 1736, Japan abandoned this policy and again increased the money supply, with a resulting price stability for the next 80 years.

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