When the farmers and townsmen turned things in to the government, like salt or tax rice, it would go down the river network first to places like Ishinomaki, and thence to Sendai itself. Naturally, it was also a deepwater port and from Ishinomaki you could send ships anywhere in Japan at large, so it was a convenient crossroads by land and by water. In Ishinomaki itself there were the roads that ran south, as well as waterways that led west to Sendai. Today there are two, but back then there was just the one, emptying south into Sendai Bay. The Kitakami River ran from the border with Nanbu domain on south, across nearly two thirds of the domain’s territory down to the delta in Ishinomaki. Why they were minted in Ishinomaki and not the domainal capital of Sendai has to do with geography and transportation networks. Sendai domain’s coins were minted in the port city of Ishinomaki, in the neighborhood even now called Isenba– The Mint. It wasn’t the only domain to make their own money in the region– Akita domain, Morioka domain, and Aizu domain all issued their own forms of money, be it paper money or coin. The Shogunate had issued such permission to Sendai domain before, several times across the 17th and 18th centuries to that point. But unlike the previous historic examples we considered, this coin was iron, rather than copper. In 1784, the Shogunate issued permission to Sendai domain for the minting of its own coin. ( source, PD)įast forward to the late 18th century. Let’s get back to our topic, shall we?įrom the Zeniza Emaki: Copper coins are strung together at a mint in Sendai domain. There were several other types of coins– if you grew up with Pokemon you might remember the coin on Meowth’s head, which is supposed to be a ryō, a gold coin– but today we’re focusing on copper cash and its variants.Īnyway. But it was Yongle Tongbao that had the most salient influence on Edo period copper coinage, starting from Kan’ei Tsūhō in the 1670s. Perhaps a better known example of early Japanese coinage was a few decades later in 708 with the minting of Wadō Kaihō. Japanese coinage is older than this– the 7th century Fuhonsen was the first, minted while Japan was still actively adapting aspects of Tang era Chinese administrations. They entered Japan in huge numbers during the lively Sino-Japanese trade during the Muromachi era and were so ubiquitous that they even made it onto the battle standards of Oda Nobunaga. In Japan they’re better known by their Japanese name as Eiraku Tsūhō. These were especially intended for international trade. In China, the iconic coin is the Yongle Tongbao– Yongle Cash, named for the Ming emperor who ordered their minting. Sometimes they’re rounded, sometimes they’re squared off, but generally they’ll have a hole in the middle for ease of transport in strings of cash. So there’s an image of East Asian coinage– especially copper coinage– that we need to grasp before we begin this week. Would you believe it? Someone thought iron coins were a good idea. Overall, the holes in Japanese coins are not just a unique feature of their design, but also a reflection of the country's cultural and historical traditions.Support this podcast! Become a patron at or buy merch and send a donation via The hole is also believed to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. The circular shape of the hole is said to represent the harmony and balance of the universe, while the square shape of the coin represents the earthly realm. In addition to practical reasons, the holes in Japanese coins also have cultural significance. The 5 yen coin, for example, has had a hole in the center since it was first minted in 1870. Over time, the holes became a traditional feature of Japanese coins and were included in subsequent designs. This made it easier to carry large amounts of money around and prevented the coins from getting lost. These coins were quite heavy and difficult to carry around, so people began to punch holes in them and string them together for convenience. The first Japanese coins, called wadokaichin, were minted in the late 1600s and were made of copper. Japanese coins have holes in them for practical reasons.
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