that
being the name of the year period (1596-1614) when they were minted,
were replaced by greatly inferior "Genroku coins" (1688-1703), with
the natural results--appreciation of commodities and much forging of
counterfeit coins. Presently the Government is found levying a tax
upon 27,200 sake brewers within the Kwanto, and, in 1703, fresh
expedients became necessary to meet outlays incurred owing to a great
earthquake and conflagration which destroyed a large part of Yedo
Castle and of the daimyo's mansions. Further debasement of the
currency was resorted to, the new coins being distinguished by the
term "Hoei," after the name of the year-period when they were
minted.

About this time several of the feudatories found themselves in such
straits that they began to issue paper currency within their
dominions, and this practice having been interdicted by the Bakufu,
the daimyo fell back upon the expedient of levying forced loans from
wealthy merchants in Osaka. Meanwhile, the crime of forgery became so
prevalent that, in the interval between 1688 and 1715, no less than
541 counterfeiters were crucified within the districts under the
direct control of the Bakufu., The feudatory of Satsuma is credited
with having justly remarked that the victims of this cruel fate
suffered for their social status rather than for their offence
against the law, the real counterfeiters being Yanagisawa and
Hagiwara, who were engaged continuously in uttering debased coins.

It must be admitted in behalf of the financiers of that era that
their difficulties were much accentuated by natural calamities. The
destructive earthquake of 1703 was followed, in 1707, by an eruption
of Fuji, with the result that in the three provinces of Musashi,
Sagami, and Suruga, considerable districts were buried in ashes to
the depth of ten feet, so that three years and a heavy expenditure
of, money were required to restore normal conditions. Thenceforth the
state of the Bakufu treasury went from bad to worse. Once again
Hagiwara Shigehide had recourse to adulteration of the coinage. This
time he tampered mainly with the copper tokens, but owing to the
unwieldy and impure character of these coins, very great difficulty
was experienced in putting them into circulation, and the Bakufu
financiers finally were obliged to fall back upon the reserve of gold
kept in the treasury for special contingencies. There can be no doubt
that Japan's foreign trade contributed mater