Event: Japan's First Economic Miracle
3 September 2025
How did 12th-century Japan transform from a rice economy to one based on cash without issuing a single coin? Join us to learn about this "minting-less" monetization--how coins from China spurred the emergence of trade cities, guilds, and new classes of merchants and artisans in Japan--and consider an illuminating alternative to developments in medieval Europe and elsewhere.
Who: Dr. Mikael Adolphson, Keidanren Professor and Chair, University of Cambridge
When: Thursday, September 11, 5:00 – 6:30 PM
Where: Pembina Hall 3-58
“Japan’s First Economic Miracle: Medieval Monetization from a Global Perspective”
The twelfth century was a pivotal time in Japan’s history. It witnessed intense factionalism at the imperial court in Kyoto, several armed conflicts, Japan’s first national civil war (1180-85) and above all the rise of warriors to national prominence, culminating with the establishment of Japan’s first warrior government, the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333). It is hardly surprising then that warrior society has been the main focus of countless studies of this period, but this approach has also led to one-dimensional descriptions of a society that was considerably more complex than is assumed. Specifically, Japan’s medieval economic developments, which from a global historical perspective can only be described as remarkable, have taken the backseat to the warrior-focused narrative that is often both teleological and ahistorical. Beginning in the mid-twelfth century, Japan was transformed from a rice economy to one based on cash coins imported from China. For the next three centuries, transactions, tax collections and even fines were expressed in terms of copper coins, which in turn spurred the emergence of trade cities, new classes of merchants and artisans, as well as the establishment of guilds. And yet not a single coin was issued in Japan. This “minting-less” monetization seemingly stands in sharp contrast to developments in medieval Europe, where monetization went hand in hand with rulers who struck their own coins.