Complementary Currencies in Japan Today: History, Originality and Relevance

Abstract

Since 1995 the number of experiments with complementary currencies in Japan has exploded. Not only is Japan the country in the world with the most systems in operation today, but also the nation with the greatest diversity of such experiments. The aim of this paper is to bring to light the strata of the heterogeneous Japanese schools of complementary currencies, and describe how they relate to each other. It provides a description of the different models used in each school, as well as their numbers and locations. Finally, the most original models are highlighted, and the relevance of these experiments for the rest of the world is evaluated.