The was a

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

currency unit in the

shakkanhō Traditional Japanese units of measurement or the shakkanhō () is the customary units, traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Japanese archipelago. It is largely based on the Chinese units of measurement, Chinese system, whic ...

system in pre- Meiji

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. 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 and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. T ...

''.

Origins

The ''ryō'' was originally a unit of weight from

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, the ''

tael Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the

Kamakura period The is a period of History of Japan, Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the G ...

. 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 Nob ...

it had become nearly uniform throughout

, 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 Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined in 1795 as "the absolute Mass versus weight, weight of a volume ...

s). During the

Sengoku period The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, various local ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' began to mint their own money. One of the best known and most prestigious of these private coins was the ''kōshūkin'' (甲州金, ''coin/gold of the Kōshū Province'') issued by warlord

Takeda Shingen was daimyō, daimyo of Kai Province during the Sengoku period of Japan. Known as "the Tiger of Kai", he was one of the most powerful daimyo of the late Sengoku period, and credited with exceptional military prestige. Shingen was based in a p ...

, who had substantial gold deposits within his territories. The value of the ''kōshūkin'' was based on its weight, with one ''kōshūkin'' equal to one ryō of gold, and thus stamped with its weight (about 15 grams). The exchange rate fluctuated. A ''ryō'' of gold was worth 3 kan (3000) copper coins around the 1530s, or early

Tenbun , also known as Tenmon, was a after '' Kyōroku'' and before '' Kōji''. This period spanned from July 1532 through October 1555. The reigning emperor was . Change of era * 1532 : At the request of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, the 12th ''shōgun'' of t ...

era: "price of gold was 30 ''kan'' for 10 ''taels'', more or less" ( in Giráldez ed. (2022)) but fell to only somewhat stronger than the later fiexed notion of "1000 mon" (copper coins), i.e., 1 ''ryō'' = 1.2–1.6 ''kan'', by late Tenshō era, or end of century.

Tokugawa period

The

Tokugawa shogunate The Tokugawa shogunate, also known as the was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars ...

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 , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

. 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, while continuing to circulate it at face value. A coin is said to be debased ...

. 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 disaste ...

''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 September 1688 to March 1704. The reigning emperor was .Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). ''Annales des empereurs du japon'', p. 415. The period was known for its peace and ...

''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 . Etymology ''Hōei'' comes from the Old Book of Tang (). Change of era * 1704 : In reaction to t ...

''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. Yoshimune is know ...

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 The is a Chinese-based Japanese unit of volume. One koku is equivalent to 10 or approximately , or about of rice. It converts, in turn, to 100 shō and 1,000 gō. One ''gō'' is the traditional volume of a single serving of rice (before co ...

'' 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 Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, 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 The , formally known as the , is a museum about Japanese currency located in front of the Bank of Japan building in Chūō, Tokyo. The museum opened in November 1985.Edan CorkillBank of Japan Currency Museum invests in exhibition on wallets ''J ...

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.

Sinogram

As an independent sinogram, 両 is one of the ''

kyōiku kanji The are kanji which Japanese elementary school students should learn from first through sixth grade. Also known as , these kanji are listed on the . The table is developed and maintained by the Japanese Ministry of Education (MEXT). Although t ...

'', a ''

jōyō kanji The are those kanji listed on the , officially announced by the Japanese Ministry of Education. The current List of jōyō kanji, list of 2,136 characters was issued in 2010. It is a slightly modified version of the tōyō kanji, kanji, which ...

'' taught in elementary school in

. It is a third-grade kanji and also means “both”.

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:Ryo Kanji Kyōiku kanji Economy of feudal Japan Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Japan

Origins

Tokugawa period

Modern conversion

Sinogram

See also

References

References