ABSTRACT
Beginning in the latter half of the seventh century with the adoption of the ritsuryō system, the classical Japanese state carried out an overhaul of its structures of governance through the importation of a variety of systems and cultural products from the Tang dynasty (618–907) in China. One such import was a system of currency. The early Japanese state imitated the shape and form of the copper coins issued by the court in China, thereby putting into circulation an original currency in the Japanese archipelago as well.
