The Dog Shogun

14. Producing Currency

197 14 Producing Currency “Producing currency is a matter for the state. It would not make the slightest difference if rubbish were substituted for currency.”1 These words were put into the mouth of Ogiwara Shigehide by the author of Sannô gaiki not to show his progressive thinking in matters of ¤nance, but to document his absolute depravity . They were written to mock Tsunayoshi’s government and demonstrate the absurd extremes to which his ¤nancial policy of debasing the coinage would lead. The major debasement ofthecoinage,however,tookplace not under Tsunayoshi but under the government of his successor, the sixth shogun Ienobu, and the process was repeated some ten times during the remaining Tokugawa period .2 Yet not just contemporaries but also later historians have singled out Tsunayoshi in their condemnation of this policy, some historians suggesting that it was one of the worst stratagems in feudal history.3 Typically it was the legacy of expenditure Tsunayoshi had inherited from his predecessors that precipitated the unprecedented measure of debasing the coinage. When well over ten years after his accession the shogun decided that he must ¤nally pay his respects at the most sacred site of the Tokugawa clan, the mausoleums of his father and great-grandfather at Nikkô, the senior councilor in charge of ¤nance, Ôkubo Tadatomo, informed him that the necessary funds were lacking. The 100,000 ryô considered necessary for the shogunal pilgrimage were simply not available. As to the solution of the problem, the shogun’s senior ministers “were silent, as if dumb.” It was at this time that Ogiwara Shigehide, though of relatively low of¤cial standing in his position as¤nance inspector, made the suggestion to melt down and remint the gold and silver coinage. By alloying it, the government would be able to increase the coinage and not only solve its ¤nancial problems, but also remedy the shortage of coinage in circulation. As a result, the gold content of the large coins known as Keichô ôban after the era (1596–1615) in which they were initially minted was reduced from 84.29 percent to 57.37 percent, while in the silver coins the proportion of silver was decreased from 80 to 64 percent. Eventually, in Hôei 5 (1708), the copper coins were also debased by minting the large coins known as tôjû sen.4 198 Producing Currency The Government’s Explanation The public was only told indirectly of the bakufu’s ¤nancial plight. The of¤cial order announcing the reminting in Genroku 8 (1695) stated that this had become necessary because the of¤cial imprint on the old coins had worn off with age and, owing to the decreasing output of the mines, available bullion was insuf ¤cient to mint enough coinage to meet the increasing need for currency.5 Though not the whole story, these were valid reasons. The original coinage minted in Ieyasu’s time had been in circulation for nearly one hundred years, and with its high purity it is likely that the imprint was wearing off. The ¤nancial boom of the Genroku period resulted in an expansion of trade and the increasing use of coinage in even the remoter parts of the country. Rapid population growth and the fast development of large urban centers further contributed to the shortage of legal tender. In addition there was a considerable out¶ow of coinage through the foreign merchants at Nagasaki. According to Engelbert Kaempfer, in 1641 the Dutch were still permitted to leave Japan with some eighty tons of gold and an equal amount in silver in exchange for the goods they had imported. Under Tsunayoshi the out¶ow was stemmed when in Jôkyô 2 (1685) a quota for the imports of the Dutch was set at ten and a half tons of gold (300,000 taels or 3,000 kan me, depending on the exchange rate), while the Chinese traders were permitted twice that amount.6 In addition, large amounts of bullion left the Japanese islands through the trade conducted by the daimyo of Tsushima with Korea.7 To pay for its expenses and to satisfy the increasing demand for coinage, the bakufu had since its inception been minting coinage. The enterprises charged by the ¤rst shogun Ieyasuwiththeminting of coinage were still in constant operation some seventy years later.8 However, some years after the Meireki ¤re, at the beginning oftheKanbunperiod (1661–1673), bullionbegan to be in short supply and the minting houses began petitioning the government to...