CHINA-JAPAN CURRENCIES FROM BEGINNING
CHINA-JAPAN CURRENCIES FROM BEGINNING Japanese currency has a history covering the period from the 8th century to the present. After the traditional usage of rice as currency medium, Japan's currency was characterized by an early adoption of currency systems and designs from China before developing a separate system of its own. History Commodity money Kaei period "Edasen" ("Branch money"), the first result out of the foundry . The coins are then cut out and filed . The ideogram for shell (貝) was incorporated into the ancient character for "coin"/ "treasure" (寶) Hō in Japanese (right). Chinese shell money, 16-8th century BCE. Before the advent of the 7-8th century CE, Japan used commodity money for its exchanges. It generally consisted of material that was compact, easily transportable and had a widely recognized value. Commodity money was a great improvement over simple barter, in which commodit...