Revenue and Accounting (Koku)

[Justin Grant]

Anyone have a good link (english if possible) to any resource that talkes about how the "accounting" system worked until the end of the "koku" (Meiji Restoration?)

 

What I would like to know is, how one purchased something or sold something, how would the transaction be handled. If I purchased something for one koku, it is doubtful that he or she carried 330 pounds of rice with them to the market.

[bjmoose]

I did some research about a year or so ago regarding historical gold values in Japan. I can't remember where I found this info, but I have a copy of the email I sent to my teacher for whom I did the research:

 

"It seems the standard gold coin was the Koban - introduced during the Tokugawa Shogunate - and it was equivalent to 3 koku of rice (1 koku was the amount of rice needed to feed one person for one year).

Following the monetary reform of 1601 the Koban became the central unit of Japan's gold currency - rivalling the nation's silver and copper money, yet debased with the circulating silver coinage at about the same rate.

 

The official gold/silver rate was at 1 Ryo gold coin (Koban) = 50 momme of silver coins = 4000 mon of copper coins, the momme being a unit of weight equal to 3.75 g.

Fluctuations of the supply and demand and the changing quality of gold and silver minted subjected the gold/silver rate to changing market evaluations. The Kenji gold Koban Japan's dynasties and rulers) minted in the 16th century stood at 60 momme of silver, the Keicho gold Koban of 1601 had had a value of 80-90 momme silver, the Genroku gold Koban of 1695 was accepted as an equivalent of 70 momme silver "

 

I figure they used that instead of humping sacks of rice to and from the market!

Hope this helps a bit.

[kusunokimasahige]

Here is a nice site for you :

 

http://my.opera.com/sukekomashi-gaijin/ ... e-currency

 

KM

[Bugyotsuji]

You could carry small beads (mame-kin, mame-gin) of gold or silver with you, but when you wanted to buy everyday necessities you would have these weighed and exchanged for square-holed copper cash Mon coins for your coin purse.

 

There were 一文　Ichi-mon coins with the mark 文　on the reverse, and slightly larger 四文　Yon-mon coins with wave-patterns on the reverse.

[Justin Grant]

Thank you gentlemen!

 

Now I'll look for these coins.

 

Justin

[Bugyotsuji]

See an example of the One Mon coin on Henk-Jan's linked page above.

[Baka Gaijin]

Morning all

 

Some time back I saw a Japanese wood block printed book for coin collectors dated to 1816.

 

It had numerous illustrations of coins and almost a parody of our present circumstance, a section for fake Chinese coins.

 

The Coin Dealer who showed me the book told me that coin collecting was a really big pastime in the Edo period and that there were coin collecting clubs in Edo, Kyoto & Osaka.

 

Sadly I've no images of that book but here's a page from a similar book where you can see the ghost image of coins printed on following pages.

 

 

Cheers

 

Malcolm