Comments by "Winston Smith" (@kryts27) on "What Eating the Rich Did For Japan" video.

I'm not strong on numismatics, but the Japanese coinage, both in the past & current day have (square and circular) holes punched in the coin, legitimately & legally. I think that was from a time when Japanese treasury coinage metal supply, such as bronze (copper), silver and gold were in short supply so they saved more metal by "debasing" the coinage with holes. Note that originally coinage was supposed the represent the precious and semi-precious metal value, and removing metal from the coin, is debasing, also by mixing with less expensive metals for example, mixing more silver in gold coins. Now, of course, nearly all money (cash in hand) has token value only, and does not relate so the value of the metal in it (gold minted coins and collectable coins excepted).
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Other than the second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars (which have consequences still to this day), Japan has been a somewhat fortunate country in the past century, particularly as it stagnated by two and a half centuries of forced isolation (under the Tokugawa Shoganates), before it started opening up.in the 1860s, and it avoided the aggressive colonialization out of Europe and North America from the Victorian era (approximately 1830s to 1900), like Thailand (Siam). Unlike what is happening in China, Japan overall grew rich before it stagnated again in the 1990s. However, although there are now richer nations in Asia, some with better social programs than Japan, this country still is the world's third largest economy.
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