The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Numismatics display throws light on Japanese history

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jun 11, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Numismatics display throws light on Japanese history

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JUNE 10. Heads or tails? Sorry, wrong call. It's a Japanese coin. There is no head or tail!

And, did you know that out of the seven lucky Gods that the Japanese worship, three have Indian origins? Daikokuten, the Japanese God of wealth and prosperity, originated from the Indian God of death Mahakala. Benzaiten (Benten), the only woman among the seven Gods originated from Saraswathi, the Goddess of music, fine arts, eloquence and literature. And Bishamonten, the Japanese God for doctors, soldiers and priests, has his origins in India, where he was known as Viasravana, a Buddhist missionary. The story goes that the seven Japanese Gods known as Shichifukujin are always on the Takara Bune Treasure ship to bring you happiness throughout the year. The Takara Bune ship made out of 630 Five-Yen coins is a collector's favourite.

Well, there are more pieces of information and history on display at the ABK-AOTS Dosokai till Friday. The Numismatics Exhibition of Japanese Coins and Currency, organised by the Madras Coins Society and the ABK-AOTS Dosokai, was inaugurated by Ryuzo Kikuchi, Consul-General of Japan, here on Thursday.

Calling coins and notes "a little piece of history," he said that coins reflect the character of nations that issue them. "They proclaim the triumphs and collapses of past nations and civilisations, yet, as historical objects go, they are relatively inexpensive, making them accessible," Mr.Kikuchi said.

Hence, all that Sathish Kumar, a young software-marketing executive based in Japan, needed was about Rs. 3 lakhs, a little help from the Internet and a lot of friends and contacts. And today, he has a collection of 150 different types of Japanese coins on display at the exhibition.

"I started collecting only from July last year," he says, flashing the oldest coin he has collected. It's a coin from China that belongs to 600 B.C. "A friend gave it as a present. It is the oldest and cheapest coin that numismatics can find," says Sathish, who had stayed in Osaka, Japan, for the last three and a half years.

Enthusiastically, he goes to show replicas of Koban coins of the Edo period (400 years before 1869 in Japan are referred to as the Edo period), the Japanese Bean coins that were used between 1736 and 1818, the porcelain coins minted during World War II during the shortage of metals, the first gold coin minted in 1871, the Silver Yens and plenty of commemorative coins including the 125 Years commemorating the Birth of Yen coin set released in 1996, the Nagano Olympic 2002 FIFA World Cup commemorative coins, the restoration of AMAMI Island 1000 Yen Silver Jubilee coin, coins on the 400 Years of Nederlands and Japan relations, the Japanese Royal Baby Privy Mark Silver coin, weighing 1 kg released by the Perth Mint, Australia, coins commemorating Japanese surrender to Russia, Hiroshima peace Memorial Genbaku Dome World Cultural Heritage Coin Set and even coins on the Pearl Harbour Attack released by countries other than Japan. Sathish opens the lock from the showcase to take out the Pearl Harbour Attack Medal. "Only 100 of these were issued to commemorate the bicentennial history of the United States 1776 to 1976," he says.

The exhibition has glimpses of Chennai-based Raja Seetharaman's occupational currency collection. "These are notes printed by Japan when it had occupied other countries. You can see the Dollars in Malaya, Pesos in Philippines, Rupees in Burma, Pounds of Oceania and Gulden of the Netherlands, all issued by the Japanese Government here," he points to the display.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu

News Update

Stories in this Section

Numismatics display throws light on Japanese history

`SSIs must promote competition'

Natarajan seeks attitudinal change among police personnel

`Centre making small industries corporation user-friendly'

Police control rooms to have modern facilities soon

Where stray dogs devour human flesh

Inflow of Neyveli water into Porur lake resumes

Showers bring relief to residents

Jewels stolen from T. Nagar house

Man murdered

Around the City

In Chennai Today