1 Monme

Monme-denomination notes were issued by a sprawling, decentralized network of private merchants, temples, and domain authorities across Edo-period Japan — not by any central banking apparatus, which wouldn't exist until the Meiji reforms of the 1870s. Individual issuers backed their notes against rice, silver, or copper coinage depending on region and date, meaning two superficially similar notes could represent entirely different promises of redemption.

Temple-issued examples were often tied to pilgrimage routes and accepted primarily within the immediate locality — sometimes only at specific markets or on specific days. Survival rates are low; most were redeemed or destroyed as intended, and private archival preservation was rare.