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International Patterns in National Identity Content: The Case of Japanese Banknote Iconography

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2016

Jacques E. C. Hymans
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Abstract

The present article suggests that expressions of Japanese identity may be more malleable and receptive to international influences than is usually thought. Through a study of the evolution of images printed on Japanese banknotes and of the political processes behind that evolution, the article shows Japanese state elites consciously following international models of identity content. In particular, it describes the shifts in Japanese banknote iconography in the early 1980s and again in the early 2000s as the product of a drive for conformity with the iconographic norms of European currencies. The state has been the main protagonist in this story, but for a full accounting of the magnitude and pace of iconographic change on the yen, it is necessary to unpack the “black box” of the state.

Keywords

national identityinternational normsvaluesnational currenciesbanknote iconographyJapanEurope
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of East Asian Studies , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , August 2005 , pp. 315 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © East Asia Institute 

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References

Notes

Thanks to Peter Duus, Robert Eskildsen, Stephan Haggard, Eric Helleiner, Yoshiko Herrera, Rieko Kage, Byung-Kook Kim, Paul Kowert, Shigehisa Kuriyama, Yoichi Nemoto, Susan Pharr, Donald Robinson, Frank Schwartz, Franziska Seraphim, Kiyoteru Tsutsui, Masako Ema Watanabe, Dennis Yasutorno, and participants at the 2003 Association for Asian Studies New England regional meeting, the 2004 American Political Science Association annual meeting, and a January 2005 seminar at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies in Kyoto, for comments on earlier drafts of this article.

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16. Inglehart is ambiguous about whether postmaterialist and postmodern goals are synonyms. I interpret postmodernism as pushing somewhat beyond the quality of life focus of postmaterialism. In my interpretation, postmaterialism still assumes an objective, universal standard of quality of life, whereas postmodernism understands quality of life to be in the eye of the beholder.Google Scholar

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21. The first yen banknotes were printed in 1872, a clear consequence of Japan's adoption of world norms of territorial currency; on this, see Helleiner, , The Making of National Money. However, the Bank of Japan (Nippon Ginko) was not founded as a central bank and sole legitimate issuer until 1882, and it issued its first notes in 1885. I choose to focus only on the Bank of Japan banknotes in order to maintain comparability with the central bank banknotes used as the data in the European cases.Google Scholar

22. Between 1885 and 2004, Japan on average has issued 0.6 new banknote per year. This rate of turnover is slightly lower than the EU nations' average of 0.7 new banknote per year.Google Scholar

23. Sixty-four of the seventy-one banknotes featured at least one human figure. One of the notes featured three human figures; these are counted as separate observations in the data set. Of the seven notes without human figures, two are from the 1920s and five are from the unsettled period 1944–1948.Google Scholar

24. As in the European cases, for the sake of clear coding I coded any depicted human figure who served in an important position in the state as a “state representative,” even if he or she was arguably more famous for some nonpolitical pursuit. I also coded representations of gods as representing the “state,” since gods are the rulers of the universe.Google Scholar

25. For a careful analysis of one instance of this phenomenon, see Eskildsen, Robert, “Of Civilization and Savages: The Mimetic Imperialism of Japan's 1874 Expedition to Taiwan,” American Historical Review 107, no. 2 (April 2002): 388–418.Google Scholar

26. Ninomiya Sontoku is most renowned as the “ideal schoolboy,” but in this rendering he is an old man. Since in his later years he served as a government minister, the depiction of him as an old man reinforces my coding decision to count him in the “state” category.Google Scholar

27. Daikoku-ten is a god and thus coded as representing the state. However, his appeal was largely to Japanese commoners rather than to elites. In that regard, a case could be made for coding those images in the “society” category. Thanks to Rob Eskildsen for raising this point.Google Scholar

28. The coding rules impose these interpretations, but for those deeply schooled in Japanese history, they are open to question. It is a stretch to code Genji, Murasaki Shikibu's hedonistic protagonist, as representing the “state,” even if he was the son of an emperor. Meanwhile, as will be suggested in the process tracing of the selection of these individuals, Nitobe was not merely a diplomat. But although this or that coding choice can be questioned, the overall direction of yen iconography is clear.Google Scholar

29. In addition to this simple application of the coding rules (modern politician = “materialist”), it seems legitimate to describe these actors as “materialist” in the specific Japanese context, because of the extreme focus in the Meiji restoration period on pursuing Japan's material progress.Google Scholar

30. It is certainly the case that Fukuzawa and Natsume had political agendas—and in some respects quite militaristic ones. But these men were public intellectuals, not politicians who dabbled in the arts.Google Scholar

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34. Interview with former Printing Bureau official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

35. This structure is just now changing. The Printing Bureau, formerly part of the Ministry of Finance, is now to become an independent agency responsible for paying for itself. It is unclear how this change will affect the magnitude and direction of its political influence.Google Scholar

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42. Interview with former MOF official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

43. Interview with former Printing Bureau official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

44. Interview with former MOF official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

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46. Interview with former Printing Bureau official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

47. Interview with former Printing Bureau official, Tokyo, May 2003. These arguments mirror those of the more “conservative” side of the European jury that reviewed the draft euro designs. See Hymans, , “Money for Mars? The Euro and European Identity.” Google Scholar

48. Indeed, in the slang of the day, rich people were said to have a lot of “Shotoku-Taishis.” Thanks to Kage Yuji for this example.Google Scholar

49. Interview with former MOF official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

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52. On this point, one small incident speaks volumes. I asked one former Treasury Division official what foreign country's banknotes he personally preferred, and he answered, “I pay mostly by credit card.” Interview with former MOF official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

53. BBC Summary of World Broadcasts , “Prime Minister Makes Post-cabinet Change Statement,” October 7, 1999 (accessed on Lexis-Nexis).Google Scholar

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57. However, some foreigners did notice the meaning of both Murasaki and the numeral two. “Japan's Other Currency Woes,” The Economist, October 30, 1999 (accessed on Lexis-Nexis).Google Scholar

58. “Higuchi 1st Woman on Postwar Bill,” The Daily Yomiuri, August 3, 2002 (accessed on Lexis-Nexis).Google Scholar

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60. The rising influence of Japanese civil society has been a major theme in recent political science research. See Pekkanen, Robert, “After the Developmental State: Civil Society in Japan,” Journal of East Asian Studies 4, no. 3 (September–December 2004): 363–388.Google Scholar

61. The one exception was in the 1996 survey, in which only 44.5 percent declared themselves satisfied and 18.1 percent wanted major change.Google Scholar

62. See Hymans, , “Money for Mars?” Google Scholar

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64. CBS News, “Japanese Feminist to Adorn Yen,” August 2, 2002, available at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/08/02/world/printable5187343.shtml.Google Scholar

65. Interview with current MOF official, Tokyo, May 2003.Google Scholar

66. Interviews with MOF and Printing Bureau officials, Tokyo, May 2003. See also the speculation to this effect in “New Banknotes to Feature Notorious Debtors,” Asahi Shimbun, August 6, 2002 (accessed on Lexis-Nexis). Google Scholar

67. As Sheldon Garon has pointed out, the Japanese state does not merely penetrate but is also deeply penetrated by the broader society and its values—and, indeed, often by the more progressive elements in it. Garon, , Molding Japanese Minds, especially pp. 18–21.Google Scholar

68. Of course, as previously emphasized, drawing overly broad conclusions from one indicator would be a mistake, but refusing to put forth any tentative lessons at this stage would be equally mistaken.Google Scholar

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74. Also important to mention in this context is the Japanese state tendency toward banishing the thought of regional, ethnic, class, or other differences within the Japanese body politic. Thanks to Rob Eskildsen for suggesting this point.Google Scholar

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76. In my interviews it was apparent that the effects of the iconographic choices on Japan's OECD brethren were considered much more fully than their effects on Japan's East Asian neighbors.Google Scholar

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