IOU - Letter of Indenture

Japanese: 借用状 - しゃくようじょう

In ancient times, it was called Getshyakusen no Ge, in the Middle Ages it was called Kakuken, and in early modern times it was called Kousyoushomon. All of these were private documents handed over as documentary evidence from the borrower to the lender when borrowing rice, coins, or other valuables. When the borrowed item was returned, the lender would return the document to the borrower, but there was a custom of sometimes defacing the document with crossed ink lines. Interest was added to the loan, but the interest rate varied depending on the era. According to the Ritsuryo system, interest was 1/8 of the principal every 60 days, the loan period was 480 days, and the borrowing limit was set when the interest reached 100% of the principal.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

古代には月借銭解（げつしやくせんのげ），中世には借券，近世には借用証文などとも呼ばれた。いずれも米･銭などの財物を借りるに際し，借主から貸主へ証拠書類として渡付される私的証文である。借物返弁が行われるとき，貸主は証文を借主に返却するが，ときには交差する墨線をもって文面を毀損する習慣があった。借用については利子が付加されたが，利率は時代によって異なる。令制によれば60日ごとに元本の8分の1を利子とし，480日を借用期限とし，利子が元本の10割に達するをもって借用限度とした。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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