Page:A handbook of modern Japan (IA handbookofmodern01clem).pdf/71

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
TRAVEL, TRANSPORTATION, COMMERCE
39

banks are also quite numerous (652), and are helping to develop habits of thrift and economy among the common people.[1]

The first Japanese mint was established at Ōsaka in 1871, and has been actively at work ever since; and there is an institution in Tōkyō for the manufacture of paper money. The coins now chiefly used the copper, nickel, silver, and gold; but in the country districts it is still possible to find brass coins of less than mill values. The copper pieces are 1/2 sen (5 rin), 1 sen, and 2 sen; the 5 sen piece is the only nickel coin; the silver pieces are 5 sen, 10 sen, 20 sen, and 50 sen; and the gold coins are 5 yen, 10 yen, and 20 yen. There are also paper notes of 1 yen and upward: these are issued only by the Bank of Japan, and amounted in 1910 to over 400,000,000 yen.

In 1897 Japan adopted the gold standard, so that exchange fluctuations with the Occident are slight, and the Japanese currency has a fixed value, at the rate of about 50 cents for the yen.[2]

Concerning the prospects of industrial and commercial Japan, it may be well to note the views[3] of Baron Shibusawa, one of the foremost of Japanese merchants and financiers. In referring to the capacity of the Japanese for business, the Baron says:—

"There are, however, four peculiarities in the Japanese character which make it hard for the people to achieve

  1. ↑ See Hamaoka's pamphlet on "The Bank of Japan."
  2. ↑ For tables of currency, weights, measures, etc., see Appendix.
  3. ↑ See "Japan and America" for June and July, 1903; also consult Diosy's "New Far East," chap. vi.
This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.