, also romanized as ''Wadō-kaichin'' or called ''Wadō-kaihō'', is the oldest official Japanese coinage, first mentioned for 29 August 708 on order of

Empress Genmei , also known as Empress Genmyō, was the 43rd monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 元明天皇 (43) retrieved August 22, 2013. according to the traditional order of succession. Genmei's reign spanned the years 707 throug ...

. It was long considered to be the first type of coin produced in Japan. Analyses of several findings of ''Fuhon-sen'' (富夲銭) in Asuka have shown that those coins were manufactured from 683.

Description

The ''wadōkaichin'' was first produced following the discovery of large copper deposits in Japan during the early

8th century The 8th century is the period from 701 ( DCCI) through 800 ( DCCC) in accordance with the Julian Calendar. The coast of North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula quickly came under Islamic Arab domination. The westward expansion of the Umayyad Empi ...

. The coins, which are round with a square hole in the center, remained in circulation until 958 CE. These were the first of a series of coins collectively called ''jūnizeni'' or .Nussbaum
p. 539.
/ref> This coinage was inspired by the Chinese

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

coinage (唐銭) named '' Kaigen Tsūhō'' (Chinese: 開元通宝, ''Kāiyuán tōngbǎo''), first minted in

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin Shi ...

in 621 CE. The ''wadōkaichin'' had the same specifications as the Chinese coin, with a diameter of 2.4 cm and a weight of 3.75 g.

Japan Currency Museum __NOTOC__ 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 wa ...

(日本貨幣博物館) permanent exhibit.

Etymology

The name ''wadōkaichin'' comes from the Japanese pronunciation of the four characters in the coin's inscription: . * The first two characters literally mean + . This was likely chosen as a fortuitous homophone for the era name : the is also used to mean "Japan", and may also be a ''

ryakuji In Japanese language, ''Ryakuji'' ( ja, 略字 "abbreviated characters", or ''hissha ryakuji'', meaning "handwritten abbreviated characters") are colloquial simplifications of kanji. Status Ryakuji are not covered in the Kanji Kentei, no ...

'' or

abbreviated An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

character for or "copper", in reference to the Japanese copper deposits.2007, (in Japanese), Britannica Japan Co., entry available onlin
here
/ref>1988, (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese),

Tōkyō Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, comics (manga), non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hit ...

, entry available onlin
here
/span> * The third character literally means "opening; to open", with an additional sense of "start; first". * The fourth character is unusual. It is considered to be either a variant form of meaning "rare, precious", or a ''

'' or

character for meaning "treasure, something precious".2006, (''

Daijirin is a comprehensive single-volume Japanese dictionary edited by , and first published by in 1988. This title is based upon two early Sanseidō dictionaries edited by Shōzaburō Kanazawa (金沢庄三郎, 1872–1967), ''Jirin'' (辞林 "Forest o ...

''), Third Edition (in Japanese),

Sanseidō is a Japanese publishing company known for publishing dictionaries and textbooks. Notable publications Dictionary * ''Daijirin'' : Japanese dictionary * ''Sanseido Kokugo Jiten'' : Japanese dictionary * ''Shin Meikai kokugo jiten The , com ...

, 1995, (''

Daijisen The is a general-purpose Japanese dictionary published by Shogakukan in 1995 and 1998. It was designed as an "all-in-one" dictionary for native speakers of Japanese, especially high school and university students. History Shogakukan intended for ...

'') (in Japanese),

, , entry available onlin
here
/span> This difference in interpretation gives rise to the alternative name for the coins, ''wadōkaihō''. Based in part on further research into writing conventions during the

Nara period The of the history of Japan covers the years from CE 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara). Except for a five-year period (740–745), when the capital was briefly moved again, it remained the cap ...

, the broad consensus in modern research appears to be the interpretation. : → Together, the third and fourth characters likely mean "first

currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general def ...

Hoards of Wadōkaichin cash coins

* In February 2015 Japanese archeologists discovered ritual jars filled with ''wadōkaichin'' and cash coins at the Tehara ruins in Rittō,

Shiga Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Shiga Prefecture has a population of 1,412,916 (1 October 2015) and has a geographic area of . Shiga Prefecture borders Fukui Prefecture to the north, Gifu Prefecture to the nort ...

. The jars were placed there as a part of a

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

ritual, which indicates that the site was likely a government office or the resident of an important local. * On August 17, 2015 four ''wadōkaichin'' cache coins were discovered at the East Pagoda of

Yakushi-ji is one of the most famous imperial and ancient Buddhist temples in Japan, and was once one of the Nanto Shichi Daiji, Seven Great Temples of Nanto, located in Nara, Nara, Nara. The temple is the headquarters of the Hossō school of Japanese Buddh ...

Nara The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...

during a restoration. The ''wadōkaichin'' were located 1.3 meters east of a foundation rock at the bottom of the 1.7 meter-deep base of the East Pagoda of the temple. Experts from the

Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties The , also known by its former name, the Nara Research Institute for Cultural Properties, is one of two research institutes that comprise the National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, an independent administrative institution created in 2001. Est ...

and the Nara Prefectural Archeological Institute of Kashihara believe that the ''wadōkaichin'' were buried at the East Pagoda during the groundbreaking ceremony of the

Buddhist temple A Buddhist temple or Buddhist monastery is the place of worship for Buddhists, the followers of Buddhism. They include the structures called vihara, chaitya, stupa, wat and pagoda in different regions and languages. Temples in Buddhism represen ...

and that these cache coins were used for purification purposes. According to the experts, this discovery at the Yakushi-ji is the oldest known example of the ancient Japanese practice of burying a cache of widely-circulated coins to purify a construction site anywhere in Japan.

Notes

References

* Brown, Delmer M. and Ichirō Ishida, eds. (1979)
''Gukanshō: The Future and the Past.''
Berkeley: University of California Press.
OCLC 251325323
* Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan.'' Kyoto: Ponsonby Memorial Society
OCLC 194887
* Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005)
''Japan encyclopedia.''
Cambridge:

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

.
OCLC 58053128
* Titsingh, Isaac. (1834)
''Annales des empereurs du Japon''
(''

Nihon Odai Ichiran Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

''). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland
OCLC 5850691
* Varley, H. Paul. (1980). ''A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns: Jinnō Shōtōki of Kitabatake Chikafusa.'' New York:

Columbia University Press Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University. It is currently directed by Jennifer Crewe (2014–present) and publishes titles in the humanities and sciences, including the fiel ...

.
OCLC 6042764

External links