Ginza (agency)

For other uses, see Ginza (disambiguation).

Ginza (銀座) was the Tokugawa shogunate's officially sanctioned silver monopoly or silver guild (za) which was created in 1598.

Initially, the Tokugawa shogunate was interested in assuring a consistent value in minted silver coins; and this led to the perceived need for attending to the supply of silver.

This bakufu title identifies a regulatory agency with responsibility for supervising the minting of silver coins and for superintending all silver mines, silver mining and silver-extraction activities in Japan.

See also

• Bugyō
• Kinzan-bugyō
• Kinza - Gold za (monopoly office or guild).
• Dōza - Copper za (monopoly office or guild).
• Shuza - Cinnabar za (monopoly office or guild)

References

• Hall, John W. (1955). Tanuma Okitsugu, 1719-1788: Forerunner of Modern Japan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. OCLC 445621
• Jansen, Marius B. (1995). Warrior Rule in Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521482394; OCLC 422791897
• Schaede, Ulrike. (2000). Cooperative Capitalism: Self-Regulation, Trade Associations, and the Antimonopoly Law in Japan. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198297185; OCLC 505758165