CC Coupon Circulation and Shopkeepers’ Behaviour: A Case Study of the City of Musashino, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

This article introduces the history of community currencies in Japan, and examines the successes and remaining problems of the community currency coupons which are currently gaining such popularity. As a rule, in Japan, only shopkeepers can exchange community currency coupons for the national currency. Therefore, in order to expand a currency’s circulation and revive the community, each shopkeeper should use the community currency actively without saving or cashing in it immediately. Shopkeepers’ behaviour become crucial for circulation. This article will try to investigate the relationship between community currency coupon circulation and shopkeepers’ behaviour. We treat community currency coupon used in Tokyo’s Musashino district as a case and use a questionnaire-based method to examine the relationship. The research makes it clear that shopkeepers’ comprehension level, psychological resistance, and accounting procedure have a substantial effect on community currency coupon reuse versus redemption.