Hansatsu banknotes are fascinating and eclectic additions to any banknote collection. A large part of their allure is the mysterious nature that eludes a great many of us in their cryptic writings. Not only is the Kanji script hard for most non-Japanese speakers to decipher, but the ancient and various methods of dating them, along with the their different valuations cause many collectors to set them aside as mere curiosities. In an effort to help understand these wonderful banknotes, I have scoured many different resources for information, cleaned up much of the old text and vagaries, and placed the new information together in this one article. With this information, it is possible that you will be able to find the dates of hansatsu and verifying the source of their issue.

When Hansatsu were produced, they were not the only means of currency around. Coinage was also used, but in many Hans it had been outlawed in preference to the Hansatsu use. Hansatsu was issued primarily with three units of backing:: Gold ( Kinsatsu ), Silver (Ginsatsu ) and Copper (Sensatsu). In addition, commodities such as rice and fish were also valued highly enough to be treated as a unit of monetary exchange, as were oil, wine and other such items. Such alternate backings were based on the local areas major industries, and could be  exchanged or for a fixed measure of silver, such as 1 unit of rice = 2 monme of silver or for the equivalent in product. Rice was undoubtedly the more valuable as a unit of currency, and issued even as income to many people. In one example, a local feudal lord, the Daimyo, would have the majority of his income in rice, mainly from tax payments from the populace. The feudal lord would be able to sell his surplus rice for money or other goods and merchandise. Many hansatsu have denominations in equivalence to a measure of rice, or for a denomination, such as a monme of rice.

Dates on Japanese Hansatsu are quite different from those on modern banknotes. The dates the Japanese used included using both a zodiacal system based on a 60-year cycle, and a Japanese system called Nengo, or a ruler declared era usually marking a new ruler or other milestone.

For example, the name of a current period such as ‘Kyoho 15 Kanoe Inu’ where Kyoho was a period from the years 1716-1735, and ‘Kanoe Inu’ was the 47th year of the Japanese zodiac calendar. If you have the number with the Nengo year as above, Kyoho 15, then it is easy enough to count from 1716 to 1730, thus arriving at the date. If the number is not included, or hard to see, then you will need the zodiac dates as well.

While the era, or period gives a general time frame, the cyclical zodiac calendar specifies the year which is separated by 60 year gaps; so in this instance we have years 1610, 1670, 1730, 1790, 1850, 1910 to choose from. As we know (from the tables below) that the general era was from 1716-1735, we can easily deduce that the year issued would have to be 1730.  The zodiac information is generally tucked between the Nengo number and the character for the year:

Kyoho – 15 – Kanoe – Inu (year of the dog)

If this all seems a little complex, don’t worry – there will be tables to reference this all in a little later on. But first we have to be able to read what is written. Japanese calligraphy is called Kanji and is a very pretty script, but it can be hard for those who are not used to it to interpret. Kanji is read from top to the bottom and from right to left.

The trick is that they did not always include both the Zodiacal and Nengo systems. Sometimes only one was used, and sometimes no dates were used at all. In addition, while there were some repeated systems for placement of dates and places, these were not a steadfast rule followed by all the issuers. These methods are not uncommon in very old practice, but with the added usage of Kanji script, and not having a designated system of placement of dates and places, it can be quite difficult for the non-Japanese linguist to decipher these amazing banknotes.

The following table lists the Nengo Eras. The first Nengo was the Taikwa in 645 AD. However, we are only concerned with the eras for Hansatsu dating, which starts with the year 1661 which was the Kwambun era, and ends with the year 1868 Meiji era. I have included years preceding and following, from the year 1532 present. Nengo eras were not consistent in length. They changed with new emperors, or when an important event occurred that changed the times for good or bad. Remember, if you can read a number after the Nengo era, all you have to do is count, and you will arrive at the correct year.