Bitasen

File:Bitasen.jpg

In the mid-12th century, large amounts of Chinese coins called "toraisen" were introduced to Japan.{{cite web|url=https://www.imes.boj.or.jp/cm/english/history/content/|title=The History of Japanese Currency|work=Bank of Japan|access-date=May 9, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://moneymuseum.com/pdf/yesterday/05_Modern_Times/21%20Money%20in%20the%20Land%20of%20the%20Rising%20Sun%20I%20The%20Copper%20Coins%20of%20Ancient%20Japan.pdf|title=Money in the Land of the Rising Sun I: The Copper Coins of Ancient Japan|author=Aila de la Rive|work=Money Museum|pages=8–11|access-date=May 9, 2024}} By the 13th century these coins had replaced commodity money as currency after the Kamakura shogunate's initial reluctance gave way to approval. As the "mere import of coins" could not meet the needs of a growing economy, Japanese clans and wealthy merchants began to issue their own coins which are referred to as {{Nihongo|Shichūsen|私鋳銭}} aka privately minted Japanese coins.{{cite web|url=https://www.mint.go.jp/eng/kids-eng/eng_kids_history.html|title=History of Japanese Coins|work=Japan Mint|access-date=May 9, 2024}} While sources agree on the Muromachi period as a starting point for "bitasen"/"toraisen" co-circulation there are differing opinions on an exact date. Mentions include the year 1404 by the Japan Mint, while others give a later period in the 16th century.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i0ni1NmbYe0C&dq=bitasen+chinese+coins&pg=PA125|title=Handbook to Life in Medieval and Early Modern Japan|author=William E. Deal|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2007|page=125|isbn=978-0-19-533126-4 }} By definition, the word {{Nihongo|Bitasen|鐚銭}} translates to "bad metal" ("Bita") or poor-quality coins with worn surfaces.{{cite web|url=https://kotobank.jp/word/%E9%90%9A%E9%8A%AD-119990|title=鐚銭|work=Kotobank|language=Japanese|access-date=May 9, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://roberts.faculty.history.ucsb.edu/coins/bitasen.html#:~:text=Bitasen%20is%20the%20Japanese%20word,authority%20of%20the%20Tokugawa%20clan.|title=Bitasen 鐚銭|author=Luke Roberts (Associate Professor)|work=Department of History University of California at Santa Barbara|access-date=May 9, 2024}} These coins were essentially imitation money which was struck in copper with "significant" amounts of lead to match the "toraisen" cash coins already in circulation.

Bitasen had a fluctuating value that depended on their worth relative to the "toraisen". Regional markets initially made their own decisions on the bitasen's value until the shogunate established a uniform valuation that was used in every Japanese region. As per their namesake, Bitasen were coins "of inferior quality" that remained in circulation for a "long time" due to an overall lack of currency available at the time. This in turn took its course on Japanese consumers throughout the 15th century who were irritated by the increasing number of damaged and worn-out coins. Bitasen were frequently no longer accepted at their face value due to a practice called "erizeni", in which they were sorted out in favor of "toraisen". Though Chinese coins would continue to circulate in Eastern Japan, the confusion and chaos caused by the Bitasen coinage caused rice to replace copper coinage in Western Japan.{{Cite book|title=Chûsei no kahei shinyô (Money and Credit in Medieval Times)|author=Sakurai Eiji|volume=52|pages=132–133|language=Japanese}}

Although Bitasen were officially prohibited in 1608 by the Tokugawa shogunate, these coins continued to illegally circulate. The shogunate responded to this by opening more mines for the production of copper, silver, and gold coinages.{{cite book|title=Dutch-Asiatic trade: 1620-1740|author=Kristof Glamann|publisher=Danish Science Press|isbn=9789400983618}}{{cite book|title=History of the Yen: 100 Years of Japanese Money-economy|author=Hiroshi Shinjo|publisher=The Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University|year=1962|asin=B005NXGU1M}} The end for the Bitasen instead came in the form of Kan'ei Tsūhō, which was first issued in 1626. Due to the isolationist policies of the Tokugawa shogunate, the outflow of currency halted and Kan'ei Tsūhō coins would continue to stay the main coin circulating in Japan. In 1670, the Eiraku Tsūhō was completely prohibited from circulation and depreciated in favor of the government produced Kan'ei Tsūhō cash coins.

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Category:Coins of Japan

Category:Economy of feudal Japan

Category:Currencies of Japan