Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
(now rōnin ) formed an association to avenge his death. How they did this, and their conse-
quent suicide, is the subject of many plays and stories about the “Loyal League.” As soon
as the sentence on their master was passed, one of them went from Edo to the home castle,
and covered the 400 miles in a palanquin in five days; an ordinary traveler would have
taken at least 17days, and even an express messenger would have needed eight. The relev-
ant point of this story is that, when Oishi, the senior retainer, heard of his master's fate, his
first thought was for the holders of notes issued by the domain. He counted the gold in the
treasuryandfoundthatitrepresentedsome60percentofthenoteissuesohehadthepaper
money exchanged at this rate, thus enabling the holders of the notes to rescue something
from the wreck, and incidentally depriving the Shogun of a sizeable sum. Those who got
their money were lucky, for although convertibility was a condition of permission for an
issue,theselocalnotesshowedatsometimeorothertheusualvicissitudesofconvertibility
and non-convertibility, devaluation and inflation.
The mutual exchange values of the coins made from the various metals were in a con-
stant state of change throughout the period, in spite of efforts by the authorities to stabilize
them. At the beginning, in 1609, the exchange rate was one ryō of gold to 50 monme of
silver to four strings of zeni , but soon after silver declined to 60 monme . The gold to silver
ratioremainedmoreorlessatthisleveluntilthemiddleofthenineteenthcentury,whenthe
influence of world exchange rates brought down the price of silver until one ryō equaled a
hundred monme . Copper, too, tended to decline in relation to gold. In the last quarter of the
eighteenthcenturyitslippedtosixstringstoone ryō ,andinthe1860sitwenttotenstrings.
These broad changes were accompanied by short-term and local fluctuations, which could
be used by the moneychangers as a source of speculative profits.
Withthreedifferentcoinagemetalscurrentinthecountry,itwasverynecessarytohave
a means of swiftly changing from one to the other. Most retail trade was transacted in cop-
per, and large shopkeepers and wholesalers needed to change this into gold or silver for
settling their debts, and the reverse operation was required, for example, when a merchant
sent men out into the country to purchase small amounts of produce. Moreover, transfer of
money from Edo to Osaka and vice versa would call for an exchange between silver and
gold. Money changing was thus a basic occupation among merchants, and was the found-
ation of many fortunes and famous families. An indication of the profitability of the enter-
prise is given by the rate of commission in Genroku times, when the changer took ten bu ,
that is, ten zeni ,foreach ryō ofgold, a rate that might seem low,but being charged oneach
transaction, amounted to a considerable income.
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