Japanese Military Currency (1894–1918) on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
is the name given to money used by the Japanese armed forces for the purchase of supplies in occupied territories. It was mainly issued in denominations of
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 ...
, and subsidiary currency of sen with the exception of the first Sino-Japanese War series. This particular article covers pre-Shōwa era
The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...
currency issued from 1894 to 1918 in three different periods. During this time Japan was militarily involved in the First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...
, Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
, and events during World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
such as the Siberian intervention. The military currency issued during these events circulated in Japanese Korea
From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon".
Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...
, the Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
(Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
), and the Russian State
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
. All of the notes issued share a similar design which resembles government issued civilian currency which circulated in Japan from 1872 to 1899. Japanese military currency was exchangeable at the given time for both silver and gold bullion. Most of these events were not long term which impacted the amount of surviving currency in different ways. It was also routine after each event for officials to exchange the military currency issued for bullion or other forms of payment such as banknotes. Unredeemed notes were thus either held by the public as commemorates or eventually lost in the decades that followed. Those that remain today are collected and traded depending on the condition and surviving rate of the series.
First Sino-Japanese War (1895)
were the first currency issued by the Japanese armed forces. The notes were used during theFirst Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War (25 July 189417 April 1895), or the First China–Japan War, was a conflict between the Qing dynasty of China and the Empire of Japan primarily over influence in Joseon, Korea. In Chinese it is commonly known as th ...
for only two months as the war ended before they could be used for a longer term. Sino-Japanese Warbonds were printed and released sometime in February 1895 in denominations of 10 tael
Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the
were produced beforehand in 1903 (year 36 of Meiji) in anticipation of an upcoming war. During this time negotiations commenced between Japan and Russia regarding Russian troops in
at the
fen
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...
. Their design is similar to civilian issued Meiji Tsūhō notes which were in circulation at the time. As the war ended with a peace treaty
A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...
on April 17, 1895, a majority of the series went unused. Most of these notes were collected by officials who exchanged them at a 1.40 yen per 1 tael rate before disposing of them. The issued series as a whole was thought to have gone extinct until four notes re-surfaced in 1977. These were found hidden in the inner pockets of military uniforms worn by high-ranking officers who served in the Sino-Japanese War. Five other unissued specimen notes remain at the Bank of Japan
The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo.
The said bank is a corporate entity ...
currency museum for public viewing.
Russo-Japanese War (1904)
were produced beforehand in 1903 (year 36 of Meiji) in anticipation of an upcoming war. During this time negotiations commenced between Japan and Russia regarding Russian troops in Manchuria
Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...
. Seeing Russia as a rival, Japan offered to recognize Russian dominance in Manchuria in exchange for recognition of Korea being within the Japanese sphere of influence. Russia refused and demanded the establishment of a neutral buffer zone between Russia and Japan in Korea north of the 39th parallel. Japan officially issued a declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one state announces existing or impending war activity against another. The declaration is a performative speech act (or the public signing of a document) by an authorized party of a national gov ...
on February 8, 1904, and attacked the Russian Far East Fleet at Port Arthur. Russo-Japanese War military bonds were issued upon declaration in denominations of 10 sen, 20 sen, 50 sen, 1 yen, 5 yen, and 10 yen. Their size ranges from 103mm x 62mm for sen to 130 mm x 92 mm for yen with a design similar to Meiji Tsūhō notes that were issued for civilians in Japan from 1872 to 1899. These Russo-Japanese War military bonds could be converted into silver during the war. Places of redemption were set up across Manchuria as the alloy could not be feasibly carried by the troops making local payments. This series was used abundantly in contrast with ''Sino-Japanese Warbonds'' as over 140 million yen in notes were issued during the war. The Japanese military also issued some of these notes in the Korean Empire
The Korean Empire, officially the Empire of Korea or Imperial Korea, was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by King Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire lasted until the Japanese annexation of Korea in August 1910.
Dur ...
as "special occupation currency".
The Treaty of Portsmouth
The Treaty of Portsmouth is a treaty that formally ended the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War. It was signed on September 5, 1905, after negotiations from August 6 to 30, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine, United States. U.S. P ...
formally ended the Russo-Japanese War on September 5, 1905. As Russo-Japanese War military bonds were not permitted to circulate in Japan, they "obtained wide currency" in Korea and Manchuria. When the war ended, the Yokohama Specie Bank
The was a Japanese bank founded in Yokohama in 1880, which dominated the Japanese market for trade finance in subsequent decades. It has been described as a "quasi-governmental exchange bank that was the overseas financial agent of the Japanese ...
was authorized to redeem the military notes in exchange for their own notes backed by the silver yen
Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
. Additional arrangements were also made to convert the notes into gold in order to target Japanese merchants in Manchuria. The exchange process began in 1910 which allowed Bank of Japan
The is the central bank of Japan.Louis Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005). "Nihon Ginkō" in The bank is often called for short. It is headquartered in Nihonbashi, Chūō, Tokyo, Chūō, Tokyo.
The said bank is a corporate entity ...
and eventually Bank of Chōsen
The Bank of Chōsen (, ''Joseon Eunhaeng''), known from 1909 to 1911 as the Bank of Korea ( ''Kankoku Ginkō'', ''Hanguk Eunhaeng'') and transcribed after 1945 as Bank of Joseon, was a colonial bank that served as bank of issue for Korea under J ...
notes to circulate in the region. Gold certificates were exclusively issued by the latter of these two banks by 1917, but were not popular with the Chinese who preferred silver. Russo-Japanese War military bonds meanwhile continued to circulate until at least 1919 with 300,000 yen reported in circulation. The note exchangements eventually gave rise to Japanese yen silver currency in Manchuria which was used into the 1930s. While "many" of the war notes were collected and destroyed by the government, others chose to keep them as victory commemorates.
World War I (1914–1918)
Qingdao troops
were issued for a very short period of time in 1914 as part of theSiege of Tsingtao
The siege of Tsingtao (; ; zh, s=青岛战役, t=青島戰役) was the attack on the German port of Qingdao (Tsingtao) from Jiaozhou Bay during World War I by Empire of Japan, Japan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United K ...
. Japan had declared war on Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
during World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
and sent troops to Tsingtao (now Qingdao
Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...
) as it was being used as a port. Qingdao military bonds were issued in September 1914 (year 3 of Taishō) in denominations of 10 sen, 20 sen, 50 sen, 1 yen, 5 yen, and 10 yen which were redeemable in silver. The notes vary in size from 103mm x 70mm for denominations of sen, to 133 mm x 93 mm for denominations of yen. Some of the lower denomination notes were re-printed on repurposed Russo-Japanese War warbonds. Qingdao military bonds have a design similar to other war currency of the time as they are all similar to Meiji Tsūhō notes that were issued for civilians in Japan from 1872 to 1899. Noticeable differences in this particular design include "(x denomination) in silver" printed in English on both sides of the obverse, and once on the reverse. The amount of issued notes is "small" as the siege of Qingdao was settled in less than two months after they were first issued. Most of these notes were redeemed by 1922 (year 11 of Taishō) as the Japanese government replaced them with Yokohama Specie Bank
The was a Japanese bank founded in Yokohama in 1880, which dominated the Japanese market for trade finance in subsequent decades. It has been described as a "quasi-governmental exchange bank that was the overseas financial agent of the Japanese ...
issued civilian currency. The uncollected amount of notes is estimated to be around 160,000 yen.
Siberian intervention
The final military currency issued before theShōwa era
The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...
is referred to as . Towards the end of World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Japan sent troops to support the allied intervention in Siberia against Soviet Russia
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...
and its allies during the Russian Civil War
The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...
. Gold backed banknotes issued by the Russian government
The Russian Government () or fully titled the Government of the Russian Federation () is the highest federal executive governmental body of the Russian Federation. It is accountable to the president of the Russian Federation and controlled by ...
were widely accepted in Siberia and Manchuria before the start of World War I. When the October Revolution
The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
caused the Russian monetary system to become chaotic the Japanese looked for ways to exploit the situation by releasing their own currency in the regions. The Japanese government decided in July 1918 that military payments should be made through the Bank of Chōsen
The Bank of Chōsen (, ''Joseon Eunhaeng''), known from 1909 to 1911 as the Bank of Korea ( ''Kankoku Ginkō'', ''Hanguk Eunhaeng'') and transcribed after 1945 as Bank of Joseon, was a colonial bank that served as bank of issue for Korea under J ...
using banknotes or gold backed military notes These notes were backed by 10,000 yen in gold coins as military funds given for the duration of the event. Siberian Intervention Warbonds were issued in August 1918 when the event commenced in denominations of 10 sen, 20 sen, 50 sen, 1 yen, 5 yen, and 10 yen. Their size ranges from 109mm x 76mm for sen to 135 mm x 95 mm for yen with a design similar to Meiji Tsūhō notes that were issued for civilians in Japan from 1872 to 1899. The face value of these notes is written twice in both Japanese and Russian on the obverse side to reflect issuance in the regions involved. These notes circulated for a long duration as the Imperial Japanese Army
The Imperial Japanese Army (IJA; , ''Dai-Nippon Teikoku Rikugun'', "Army of the Greater Japanese Empire") was the principal ground force of the Empire of Japan from 1871 to 1945. It played a central role in Japan’s rapid modernization during th ...
continued to occupy Siberia even after other Allied forces withdrew in 1920. Siberian Intervention Warbonds were actively collected by the Japanese government when soldiers returned from the intervention in October 1922. Those that weren't collected remained in circulation as convertible banknotes that could be exchanged for Bank of Japan notes of the same value. This period of exchange lasted until September 1945 when the Ministry of Finance declared the military bonds invalid.
Collecting
The value of any given banknote is determined by survivability rate and condition as collectors in general prefer original notes with bright rich coloring. In contrast to this are notes with ink stains, missing pieces, and evidence of repairs which can all impact their value. Exceptions to this include extremely rare banknotes where there are few surviving examples (ex:National Gold Bank Note
National Gold Bank Notes were National Bank Notes issued by nine national gold banks in California in the 1870s and 1880s and redeemable in gold. Printed on a yellow-tinted paper, six denominations circulated: $5, $10, $20, $50, $100, and $500. A $ ...
). The oldest military currency issued during the post-Imperial restoration era include Sino-Japanese Warbonds which had a very short lifespan. These notes are not collectible as there are no records of actual sales outside of institutions such as the Bank of Japan Currency Museum. One the four known "1 tael
Tael ( ),"Tael" entry
at the
at the
The second series issued during the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...
is very common as over 140 million yen in notes were issued for the duration. Russo-Japanese War military bonds continued to circulate long after being collected until at least 1919 with people keeping them as victory commemorates. These notes were produced with and without serial numbers which creates two varieties to those looking for a set. On average they are valued in the tens of thousands of yen (~$100+ USD) depending on the denomination. The highest denomination notes of 5 and 10 yen are rare, and are valued much higher in the hundreds of thousands of yen (~$1,000+ USD).
During World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
Japan issued two different series of military currency for events in China and Siberia. The first of these issues are known as Qingdao military bonds which are now scarce due to their survival rate. As with the First Sino-Japanese War, the incident involving the Siege of Tsingtao
The siege of Tsingtao (; ; zh, s=青岛战役, t=青島戰役) was the attack on the German port of Qingdao (Tsingtao) from Jiaozhou Bay during World War I by Empire of Japan, Japan and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United K ...
only lasted for a brief period of time. Most of the issue was either redeemed afterwards or lost over the past century. Notes in the lower denominations are most common with values ranging from the tens to hundreds of thousands of yen. The highest denomination notes of 5 and 10 yen are possibly non-existent now as there have been no recorded sales of them. Siberian Intervention Warbonds were the second and last of these currencies issued before the Shōwa era
The was a historical period of History of Japan, Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) from December 25, 1926, until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death on January 7, 1989. It was preceded by the T ...
. Grading services also refer to these notes as part of the ''Occupation of Siberia'' series for an encapsulation title. This series follows the pattern of the lowest denominations being the easiest to obtain, as they are valued in the tens to hundreds of thousands of yen. The surviving notes for the highest denominations of 5 and 10 yen are now very rare, with values in the hundreds of thousands to millions of yen. An example of a 10 yen note sold for US$28,680 at an auction held in 2017.
See also
*Banknotes of the Japanese yen
Banknotes of the Japanese yen, known in Japan as , are the banknotes of Japan, denominated in Japanese yen (Yen sign, ¥). These are all released by a centralized bank which was established in 1882, known as the Bank of Japan. The first notes ...
*Scrip of Edo period Japan
During the Edo period, feudal domains of Japan issued scrip called for use within the domain. This paper currency supplemented the coinage of the Tokugawa shogunate. Most scrip carried a face value in silver coinage, but gold and copper scrip a ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese military currency (1894-1918) Military yen Military yen Military yen Modern obsolete currencies Currencies of Japan