Domain bills - Hansatsu

Paper money issued by feudal domains during the Edo period and used mainly within their territories. The first feudal notes were silver notes issued by the Fukui domain in Echizen Province in 1661 (Kanbun 1). Feudal notes were classified as gold notes, silver notes, or coin notes in relation to the specie shogunate currency (the three currencies of gold, silver, and coins), but silver notes were the most commonly issued. Other unique notes included rice notes, silk notes, umbrella notes, potter's wheel notes, dried squid notes, and kelp notes. Prior to the issuance of feudal notes, private notes were issued from the early Edo period in advanced regions such as Ise, Yamato, Settsu, Kawachi, Izumi, and Kii. Ise postcards were a typical example of private notes.

After that, after the Kanbun period (1661-73), when the castle town economy was established, feudal domains all over the country began to issue hansatsu (domain notes). The reasons for issuing hansatsu were to make up for the shortage of shogunate currency within the domain, to adjust the amount of currency, and to directly alleviate the domain's financial difficulties. The issuance of hansatsu required the permission of the shogunate, which was institutionalized in 1730 (the 15th year of the Kyoho era), and the period of use of hansatsu was set at 25 years for domains with 200,000 koku or more, and 15 years for domains with less than 200,000 koku. When issuing hansatsu, wealthy merchants from within and outside the domain were often appointed to play the role of the source of the notes, and the basis of the credit of the hansatsu in circulation was the national credit of the domain authorities and the credit of the merchants who were the source of the notes, which were inextricably linked. Han notes were linked to the monopoly systems of various domains, and in many cases were used to purchase local specialties such as cotton, paper, salt, sugar, wax, and blue matting. Most domain notes were in the form of convertible paper money that promised to be convertible into Shogunate currency, but due to financial difficulties, they were issued excessively, and there were cases where the convertible reserves at the domain note exchange offices were insufficient, making them inconvertible, causing the market price of domain notes to plummet, and the money-spending economy to fall into chaos. Domain notes were generally only usable within the domain (within the domain), but as the distribution of goods developed, many neighboring domains began to use them outside their domains.

Unlike the feudal domains, the shogunate maintained a policy of not issuing paper money, but in 1867 (Keio 3) at the end of the Edo period, three types of gold notes were issued in succession: Edo and Yokohama notes, Edo and the Kanto region (Kanhasshu), and Hyogo port open notes. However, the Meiji Restoration came soon after, and these hardly circulated at all. When the Meiji government abolished the feudal domains and established prefectures in July 1871 (Meiji 4), it issued an order to collect feudal notes, clarifying its policy of collecting feudal notes at the prevailing local exchange rate at the time and exchanging them for new currency under the government's responsibility. According to a survey at that time, as many as 244 feudal domains, or about 80% of the 300 feudal lords, issued notes, and the government spent about eight years sorting out these various feudal notes and smoothly progressing with the monetary reform in terms of paper money.

[Yotaro Sakudo]

"The Great Japanese Currency History, 9 volumes compiled by the Ministry of Finance and edited by Honjo Eijiro (1969-70, Rekishi Toshosha)" ▽ "The Early Modern Japanese Currency History, by Sakudo Yotaro (1958, Kobundo)" ▽ "A Study of the History of Japanese Money and Finance - A Basic Study of Credit Currency in Feudal Society, by Sakudo Yotaro (1961, Miraisha)" ▽ "An Introduction to the Study of the History of Han Paper Money, by Yamaguchi Kazuo (1966, Research Department of the Bank of Japan)" ▽ "An Overview of Han Paper Money, by Senoo Morio (1964, Research Department of the Bank of Japan)" ▽ "Han Paper Money, 2 volumes, by Araki Toyosaburo (1965, 66, Isobe Printing Company)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代に諸藩が発行し、主として領内において通用させた紙幣。最初の藩札は1661年（寛文1）越前(えちぜん)国福井藩で発行した銀札であった。藩札は正貨の幕府貨幣（金・銀・銭の三貨）との関係から、金札、銀札、銭札などの別があったが、そのなかで銀札がもっとも多く発行された。そのほか米札、綛糸(かせいと)札、傘(かさ)札、轆轤(ろくろ)札、鯣(するめ)札、昆布(こんぶ)札などの特殊な紙幣もみられた。藩札の発行に先だって、江戸初期から伊勢(いせ)、大和(やまと)、摂津(せっつ)、河内(かわち)、和泉(いずみ)、紀伊などの先進地帯において私札が発行された。伊勢の羽書(はがき)はなかでも代表的な私札であった。

　その後、城下町経済の体制が確立した寛文(かんぶん)期（1661～73）以降、全国各地の諸藩で藩札が発行されるに至った。藩札発行の理由は、領内における幕府貨幣の不足を補い、通貨量の調整を図ることや、藩財政の窮乏緩和を直接意図していたことなどに求められる。藩札の発行に際して、幕府の許可が必要であったが、それが制度化したのは1730年（享保15）であり、藩札の使用期間が20万石以上の藩で25年、20万石以下の場合には15年と定められた。藩札の発行に際して、領内外の富商が登用されて札元(ふだもと)の役割を果たした場合が多く、藩札の流通信用の基礎には藩当局の国家信用と札元の商人信用とが表裏一体の関係をなしていた。藩札が諸藩の専売制度と結び付き、領内特産の木綿(もめん)、紙、塩、砂糖、蝋(ろう)、青莚(あおむしろ)などの買上げ資金として利用された場合も少なくなかった。大部分の藩札は幕府貨幣との兌換(だかん)を約束した兌換紙幣の形式をとっていたが、藩札が財政窮乏のため乱発されて、藩札会所における兌換準備金が不足して不換紙幣化し、藩札の市中価格が暴落して、札遣(ふだづか)い経済が混乱状態に陥る場合もみられた。藩札の通用範囲は領内通用（一藩内限り）を原則としていたが、商品流通の発展に伴って、近隣諸藩において領外通用した所も少なくなかった。

　幕府は諸藩とは違って紙幣を発行しない方針を維持してきたが、幕末の1867年（慶応3）になって、江戸横浜通用札、江戸および関八州(かんはっしゅう)通用札、兵庫開港札の3種類の金札を相次いで発行したが、その直後に明治維新となりほとんど流通しなかった。明治政府は1871年（明治4）7月廃藩置県の際、藩札回収令を発布し、藩札をその時点における現地相場で回収し、政府が責任をもって新貨幣と交換する方針を明らかにした。当時の調査によると、藩札を発行していたのは三百諸侯の約80％にあたる244藩の多きに達しており、政府はその雑多な藩札を約8か年の歳月を費やして整理し、紙幣面における幣制改革を順調に進めた。

［作道洋太郎］

『大蔵省編、本庄栄治郎校訂『大日本貨幣史』全9巻（1969～70・歴史図書社）』▽『作道洋太郎著『近世日本貨幣史』（1958・弘文堂）』▽『作道洋太郎著『日本貨幣金融史の研究――封建社会の信用通貨に関する基礎的研究』（1961・未来社）』▽『山口和雄著『藩札史研究序説』（1966・日本銀行調査局）』▽『妹尾守雄著『藩札概要』（1964・日本銀行調査局）』▽『荒木豊三郎著『藩札』全2巻（1965、66・いそべ印刷所）』

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