Coinage and Epidemics/Disasters

F6　—　An Adjacent Discipline

How did currency respond to external shocks? Kyoto during a famine, earthquake bills, the panic caused by a slip of the tongue. We will dissect the recurring pattern of responses to shocks using Japanese case studies.

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama　／　Reading time (main text): About 7 min (3,253 characters of text at 500 chars/min; exercises and readings not included)　／　Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 3 coins · 5 readings

What this course teaches you to do

• Can describe the economy of Kyoto during a famine (alms, prices, street life) based on historical sources.
• Can explain the role of trading ships (Jisha zōeiryō tōsen) as a source of revenue for reconstructing temples and shrines.
• Can explain the mechanism of earthquake bills and the "coexistence of relief and debt shifting."
• Can derive from the financial panic caused by a slip of the tongue the principle that "credit is belief."

Lessons (6)

1. Starving Kyoto — The first record of a disaster economy.A two-year famine was chronicled by a hermit's pen and a monk's charity. The economics of disaster first required a recorder.
2. Burned Temples and Trading Ships — The Invention of a Funding Source for ReconstructionKenchō-ji temple, lost twice to earthquake and fire, was rebuilt using trading ships. Disaster drove international trade.
3. Earthquake Bills — The coexistence of relief and debt transferNearly half of the 430 million yen in bills defaulted. Bad debts from before the earthquake flowed in through loopholes in the system.
4. The Slip-of-the-Tongue Panic — Credit as BeliefA bank that had not failed, failed the day after it was said to have failed. The March when the true nature of credit was exposed.
5. The Seed Within the Bailout — A Response Called PostponementBailouts and postponements are different names for the same act. The wound of 1920 burst into a financial crisis seven years later.
6. Patterns of Response — What Can Be Chosen After a BlowRecord, invent financial resources, gauge the gaps in relief, and separate cause from trigger. Patterns of response can be learned.

Readings (5)

• The Ōnin War and the coin　Japan　1459–1461　Rokkakudo, Kyoto
  Section 1. The Almsgiving of Gan'ami. The Network of Faith as the First Insurance.
• The coin crosses the sea　Japan　1325–1326　Kenchoji, Kamakura
  Section 2. The Temple Lost Twice, and the Trading Ship for its Reconstruction.
• The wartime boom, the earthquake and the crash　Japan　1923–1926　Tokyo, the Bank of Japan
  Section 3. The Coexistence of Relief and Recoinage. Reading the Figures.
• The wartime boom, the earthquake and the crash　Japan　1927　Tokyo
  Section 4. "Igniting the Leaking Gas"—The Distinction Between Cause and Trigger.
• The wartime boom, the earthquake and the crash　Japan　1920　Tokyo, Kabutocho
  Section 5. "Relief and postponement were different names for the same act."

Assessment

6 exercises in this course (4 check, 1 compare, 1 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.