The was a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

currency unit in the

shakkanhō Traditional Japanese units of measurement or the shakkanhō (, "''shaku–kan'' system") is the traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Japanese archipelago. It is largely based on the Chinese system, which spread to Japan and ...

system in pre- Meiji Japan. It was eventually replaced with a system based on the ''

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

''.

Origins

The ''ryō'' was originally a unit of weight from China, the ''

tael Tael (),"Tael" entry
at the ...

.'' It came into use in Japan during the

Kamakura period The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...

. By the

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nobuna ...

it had become nearly uniform throughout Japan, about 4.4 ''monme'' as a unit of weight (about the same as 16.5

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure water equal to th ...

s). During the

Sengoku period The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...

, various local ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast, hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and nominal ...

'' began to mint their own money. One of the best known and most prestigious of these private coins was the ''koshukin'' issued by the warlord

Takeda Shingen , of Kai Province, was a pre-eminent ''daimyō'' in feudal Japan. Known as the "Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyō with exceptional military prestige in the late stage of the Sengoku period. Shingen was a warlord of great ...

, who had substantial gold deposits within his territories. The value of the koshukin was based on its weight, with one ''koshukin'' equal to one ryō of gold, and thus stamped with its weight (about 15 grams). During the Tenshō period (1573–1592), one ryō was equal to four '' koku'' of rice, or 1000 brass coins.

Tokugawa period

The

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...

attempted to create a central currency, based on gold, silver and copper units all exchangeable at fixed rates. Oblong gold coins, called ''koban'', were minted with one ''koban'' containing about one ''ryō'' of gold, so that ''koban'' carried a face value of one ''ryō''. The official rate was set in 1609 at one ''ryō'' equal to 50 ''monme'' (approx 187 grams) of silver, or 4000 brass coins. However, in reality the relative values between gold, silver and brass currencies fluctuated on an almost daily basis throughout the

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characte ...

. In 1695 the government decided to increase the amount of metal money in circulation by

debasement A debasement of coinage is the practice of lowering the intrinsic value of coins, especially when used in connection with commodity money, such as gold or silver coins. A coin is said to be debased if the quantity of gold, silver, copper or nick ...

. As a result, the ''ryō'' as a unit of weight of gold and the ''ryō'' as the face value of the ''koban'' were no longer synonymous. The

Keichō was a after ''Bunroku'' and before ''Genna''. This period spanned from October 1596 to July 1615. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1596 : The era name was changed to ''Keichō'' to mark the passing of various natural disasters ...

''koban'' issued after the monetary reform of May 1601 offered approximately 17.9 grams gold with fineness of 84–87%. The

Genroku was a after Jōkyō and before Hōei. The Genroku period spanned the years from the ninth month of 1688 to the third month of 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period w ...

''koban'' issued in 1695 still weighed around 17.9 grams; however its gold content was reduced to 57%. The

Hōei was a after Genroku and before Shōtoku''.'' This period spanned the years from March 1704 through April 1711. The reigning emperors were and . Change of era * 1704 : In reaction to the Great Genroku earthquake in Genroku 16, the era name ...

''koban'' of 1706 returned to the original fineness; however, the size was much reduced and it had little more than half the metal value of the Keichō ''koban''. In 1700 the official exchange rate was adjusted to 1 ryō equal to 60 ''monme'' silver (225 grams) or 4000 brass coins.

Tokugawa Yoshimune was the eighth ''shōgun'' of the Tokugawa shogunate of Japan, ruling from 1716 until his abdication in 1745. He was the son of Tokugawa Mitsusada, the grandson of Tokugawa Yorinobu, and the great-grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu. Lineage Yoshimu ...

further conducted a reform to stimulate the economy and raise prices in 1736, again lowering the gold content of the ''koban''. One ''ryō'' was also considered equivalent to 1 '' koku'' of rice, or the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year, although this was a less exact standard, which fluctuated depending on the abundance of the rice crop in any particular year. On June 27, 1871, with the introduction of currency reforms after the

Meiji Restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, the ''ryō'' was abolished, and replaced one-for-one with the Yen.

Modern conversion

These fluctuations in the gold content of the koban over time, as well as differences in the cost of living between various points in the Edo period and in modern times make any attempt to relate the value of one ryō in terms of modern currency very difficult. Japanese middle school textbooks often state that one ryō was approximately equivalent to 100,000 Yen at the start of the Edo period, and around 3000–4000 yen at the end of the Edo period. On the other hand, the Currency Museum of the Bank of Japan states that one ryō had a nominal value equivalent 300,000–400,000 yen, but was worth only 120,000–130,000 yen in practice, or 40,000 yen in terms of rice.

References

* Lucassen, Jan. Wages and Currency: Global Comparisons from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century. Peter Lang (2007), * Ohnuki, Mari, "The Genroku, Hoei, Shotoku, Kyoho, and Gembun Koban", Short Essays on Monetary History Contained in Monetary and Economic Studies, Research Division 3, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan (ed.), Monetary and Economic Studies, 15.2 (1997). * Honjo, Eijiro, "The Economic thought in Tokugawa days", Kyoto University Economic Review, vol. xiii, no. 1 (Kyoto, Oct. 1938), p. 1–22. verview of the period 1600 to 1867 {{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese Ryo Economy of feudal Japan Modern obsolete currencies

Origins

Tokugawa period

Modern conversion

See also

References