Kajiki Unofficial Mint Site

For many centuries, feudal Japan’s monetary system was based not on bullion but rice and other commodities. Copper coins had fallen out of favor by the end of the 10th century, and it was not until 1626 that the Tokugawa shogunate introduced the famous Kan’ei Tsūhō coinage as its official currency.

Before this economic reform, the Chinese cash—a round coin with a square hole in the middle—was the de facto currency in international trade, and a number of private mints across Japan produced their own imitations of what was circulating at the time. In most cases, these unauthorized coins (known as bita) were poorly made, but were widely used and accepted rather than dismissed as counterfeits.

One of such private mints was located in the town of Kajiki in Satsuma province, present-day Kagoshima. The Kajiki cash, or Kajiki-sen as it is known today, was made in imitation of the Hongwu Tongbao, which was originally issued in Ming China from 1368 to 1393, except with the mint mark of either 加 (Ka), 治 (Ji), or 木 (Ki) engraved on the reverse.

While many historians and numismatists believe that the minting of the Kajiki cash started around 1599, other theories claim that it might have been first issued in 1441 for trade with the Ryukyu Kingdom (Okinawa), or that it’s more recent, up to 1700 or so. Still, it had most likely fallen into disuse by the time the Kan’ei Tsūhō was introduced.

The exact history may be a bit of a mystery, but what makes the Kajiki cash special is that there is no doubt about its origin. Unlike all the other bita coins known today, one can narrow it down to the town of Kajiki, and, not only that, even the actual minting site has been located.

The Kajiki mint site has been known to have existed in the Motomachi neighborhood for some time, and in 1962 a simple monument was erected here. Later, in 2014, the municipality conducted an archaeological dig and unearthed a hoard of Kajiki coins alongside crucibles for copper casting, confirming that a minting facility once did exist on the spot.