Japanese ryō
- Dates in use
- Introduction and ending not established
- Ancestry branch
- See family connections
Its place in the family
All ancestors and descendants ↗Parents 0
Earlier ancestry is not established here.
Japanese ryō
This currencyChildren 1
Trace its ancestry backward
Japanese ryō
Earlier ancestry is not established here.
The story
Gold accounting used ryo, bu and shu. [1]
An eighteenth-century official rating equated one ryo with 60 monme or 4,000 mon. [2]
The seventeenth-century museum section gives one ryo as 50 monme or 4,000 mon. [3]
Turning points
Later16th-century Koshu gold used ryo/bu/shu units that the Bank of Japan…
Later16th-century Koshu gold used ryo/bu/shu units that the Bank of Japan identifies as continuing into Edo gold reckoning. Regional-to-general continuity is explicit but the observed evidence is denomination and large-transaction use, less direct than a surviving dated account. Optional earlier anchor; retain17th-century firm observation independently. [4]
The 17th-century Japanese monetary system reckoned gold values in ryo,…
The 17th-century Japanese monetary system reckoned gold values in ryo, independently from silver monme and copper mon. [5]
Denomination extension
The BOJ Museum dates gold-unit-denominated Meiwa Nishu silver coins to 1772, distinguishing denomination from metal. [6]
Mitsui Kyoto moneychanger accounts switched fully from ryo to yen in March–April…
Mitsui Kyoto moneychanger accounts switched fully from ryo to yen in March–April 1873, after earlier yen instruments had still been settled in ryo. This supplies an actual ledger transition supporting existing ryo→yen succession. [7]
Sources and evidence
- Bank of Japan Currency Museum · FAQs Japanese Currency
- Bank of Japan Currency Museum · FAQs Japanese Currency
- Bank of Japan Currency Museum · Historical Events and Currencies in Use Contents
- Bank of Japan Currency Museum · Historical Events and Currencies in Use Contents
- Bank of Japan Currency Museum · Historical Events and Currencies in Use Contents
- Bank of Japan Currency Museum · Historical Events and Currencies in Use Contents
- Noburu Kobayashi · Noburu Kobayashi, 近世・近代日本貨幣史の基礎的研究, BOJ Currency Museum 2017
Open the complete research record →
Full claims, evidence coverage, corrections and earlier interpretations are kept separately.
Cite this page
“Japanese ryō.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Updated 2026-10-14; data version v49. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000410.html