About Wado Kaichin, Japan's first official silver and copper currency minted in 708 CE following a rich copper discovery in Chichibu during the Nara Period.
In 708 CE (Nara Period), natural high-purity copper deposits were discovered in Musashi Province (modern-day Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture). Empress Genmei was so thrilled by the find that she renamed the imperial era to Wadō (和銅 - "Japanese Copper") and ordered the minting of Japan's first official imperial coinage: the Wadō Kaichin (和同開珎).
Modeled on Tang Dynasty Cash
The Wado Kaichin was modeled on China's Tang Dynasty Kai Yuan Tong Bao coins:
- Round copper and silver disks with a square hole in the center.
- Four kanji characters read clockwise: Wa-Dō-Kai-Chin ("Opening Currency of Japanese Copper").
- Square holes allowed thousands of coins to be strung onto hemp cords for easy transport and accounting.
Paying the Builders of Heijo-kyo (Nara Capital)
The Imperial Court issued the Wado Kaichin primarily to pay thousands of laborers and craftsmen building the grand new capital city of Heijō-kyō (Nara). To promote public adoption in a society accustomed to bartering rice and cloth, the government issued decrees offering court promotions and nobility titles to citizens who accumulated large savings of Wado Kaichin coins!
The Rise and Fall of Imperial Minting
After the initial success of the Wado Kaichin, subsequent emperors continued to issue copper coinage throughout the Nara and early Heian periods. In 760 CE, Emperor Shōmu introduced the Hoei Tsuho, followed by the Tenpyo Kaichin (765 CE) and Tenpyo Ho'o (766 CE), each maintaining the same square-hole design and Chinese-inspired script of the original.
But by the late eighth century, the quality of Japanese copper deposits declined and the central government's grip weakened. Provincial governors began hoarding copper rather than sending it to the imperial mint. Counterfeiting flourished, and imported Chinese cash coins — cheaper to acquire and of more consistent quality — gradually flooded the domestic market. By the Heian period (794–1185 CE), official minting had largely ceased, and Japan entered a centuries-long period where foreign Chinese coins served as the de facto currency.
Legacy of Japan's First Coins
Though the Wado Kaichin circulated for only a few decades before being eclipsed by imports, its symbolic importance endured. It proved that Japan could produce its own sovereign currency rather than relying entirely on Tang Chinese coinage — a statement of political independence as much as monetary policy.
Today, surviving Wado Kaichin coins are among the most sought-after artifacts in Japanese numismatics. Archaeological excavations at the Heijō-kyō (Nara) palace site regularly unearth examples, and the original copper mines at Chichibu remain a protected historical landmark. The coin's four-character inscription remains one of the oldest surviving examples of Japanese imperial authority expressed through metal.