Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/279



—This operation should be called more properly a reversion to gold monometallism. The currency system, established by Japanese financiers at the beginning of the Meiji era was based on the gold standard, the unit being the gold yen a coin worth four shillings, in round numbers. But, in the first place, Japan's stock of gold was soon driven out of the country by her depreciated fiat currency, and, in the second, as all other Oriental nations were silver-using, and as the silver Mexican dollar was the unit of accounts in Far-Eastern trade, Japan ultimately drifted into silver monometallism, the silver yen becoming her unit of currency. So soon, however, as the indemnity that she received from China after the war of 1894–1895 had placed her in possession of a stock of gold, she determined to revert to the gold standard. Mechanically speaking, the operation was very easy. Gold having appreciated so that its value in terms of silver had exactly doubled during the first thirty years of the Meiji era, nothing was necessary except to double the denominations of the gold coins in terms of yen, leaving the silver subsidiary coins unchanged. Thus the old 5-yen gold piece, weighing 2.22221 momme of 900 fineness, became a 10-yen piece in the new currency, and a new piece of half the weight was coined. No change whatever was required in the reckonings of the people. The yen continued to be their coin of account, with a fixed sterling value of a little over two shillings, and the denominations of the gold coins were doubled. Gold, however, is little seen in Japan: the whole duty of currency is done by notes.  —The amounts include the payments made in connection with what may be called the disestablishment of the 