Sustained circulation: A descriptive framework of long-lived Japanese community currencies

Abstract

In spite of varied and sometimes underwhelming results, community currencies (CCs) continue to demonstrate potential for inducing beneficial regional development by means of technological innovation and creditable social outcomes. However, outside of the Western context, much still needs to be understood regarding their operation and management. Long-term durability in particular has been an issue that has been observed with CCs around the world. This paper aims to shed more light on this aspect of CC research from the Japanese perspective by formulating a descriptive framework of long-lived Japanese CCs. In order to accomplish this, 12 Japanese CC organizations that have each operated for at least a decade are investigated using a Grounded Theory approach (GT). The GT methodology was applied to a primary data set of transcribed interviews with CC leaders and organizers. This was supplemented by currency circulation reports, surveys among CC users, and observation of CC activities for the purposes of data triangulation. Leadership Continuity emerged as the core theme uniting these diverse organizations. An exploration of this theme reveals 3 broad operating forms of long-lived Japanese CCs, namely, LETS Passbook Communities, Subsidized Coupon Type CCs, and Non-Subsidized Coupon Type CCs. Additionally, 3 reliable funding strategies and 2 reinforcement factors were observed among the more robust organizations.

Keywords

Japanese community currency management long-term description

Introduction

Community currencies: A brief introduction

Community currencies (CCs), also known as complementary or local currencies, are an economic phenomenon that has existed throughout history in various parts of the world. Although the terms community currency and complementary currency are sometimes used interchangeably, complementary currencies function parallel to mainstream currencies to address issues that conventional money cannot, while community currencies are a “subset of complementary currencies that are tied to a specific, demarcated and limited community” (NEF, 2015: p. 32). Consequently, a medium of exchange for goods and services outside of the legal tender system and within a limited community or region could be described as a CC. CCs are created with the aim of encouraging localized economic, social, and sustainable development. Some of the earliest modern recorded CCs flourished during the Great Depression where they were particularly effective at helping communities to overcome the difficult economic conditions of the time (Fisher and Cohrssen, 1933; Onken, 1983; Lietaer, 2001; Gatch, 2012; Schroeder et al., 2011).

In the 1980s, the demise of traditional communities and local economies associated with the long-term effects of globalization and deindustrialization prompted an interest in alternate socio-economic systems, resulting in a revival of the CC concept (Nishibe, 2018b: p. 17; Schroeder et al., 2011: p. 32). The CC phenomenon then spread worldwide in the 1990s with Japan in particular experiencing a boom of hundreds of CC organizations in the early 2000s (Kurita and Miyazaki, 2018: p. 121; Kobayashi et al., 2020: p. 2). In recent years, the proliferation of cryptocurrencies has increased awareness of currencies that do not function as legal tender (Ruddick et al., 2015: p. 4), and as the modern economy continues evolving, technology is providing further opportunity and scope for development. Consequently, CCs have increasingly become a more vibrant area of research with both theoretical and empirical research projects being published in a number of different languages (Schroeder et al., 2011: p. 32). This growing interest is a reflection of the increasing number of CC systems worldwide. According to Lietaer (2001: p. 339), in 1995 there were around 1000 CC systems worldwide and more recently Lietaer and Dunne (2013: p. 73) put the number of worldwide CCs at approximately 4000 systems. Other relatively recent estimates have ranged between 3418 (Seyfang and Longhurst, 2012: p. 11) and roughly 5000 (Martignoni, 2012: p. 1) systems worldwide and growing.

CC outcomes

In spite of the growth in numbers and general interest, CC outcomes have, in general, fallen short of expectations (Izumi and Nakazoto, 2017; Cooper 2013). This is largely due to a lack of convincing evidence for their efficacy (Steed and Bindewald, 2015: p.69) and accurate measurement protocols for evaluating CCs (Bindewald and Economics Foundation, 2014). On the other hand, the evolutionary nature of CC systems (Seyfang and Longhurst, 2012; Kurita and Miyazaki, 2018: p.121), whereby the current generation of CCs is improving on the shortcomings of previous systems as well as the aforementioned technological developments and growth in numbers, continues to demonstrate the potential that CCs have for inducing beneficial regional development.

Economic outcomes

Historical examples aside, there is little evidence of present day CC systems inducing measurable economic development, particularly amongst flagship systems such as LETS and Time Banks (Dittmer, 2013; Cooper, 2013). Additionally, relatively well-established CCs such as BerkShares and the Bristol Pound have been found to either have “no impact either directly on businesses or indirectly on local economic conditions.” (Matti and Zhou, 2022: p. 16), or to have “critical constraints to growth” which would need to be overcome to achieve the desired economic impact (Johnson and Harvey-Wilson, 2018: p. 29).

This is not to say that there are no reports of the beneficial economic impact of CCs. Indeed, there are several. However, the evidence they present needs to be considered carefully. For example, two oft-cited cases of CC success are the WIR Bank in Switzerland and Banco Palmas in Brazil. Regarding these two systems, it has been noted that their success, such as it is, is due to the fact that these CCs have a “range of other interventions and projects alongside the currency” and that “currency design is only one part of these projects” (Steed and Bindewald, 2015). Additionally, there are reports of positive CC economic impact where the evaluation of the currency project was either conducted by practitioners on their own projects (Wheatley et al., 2011; Bendell et al., 2015) or by researchers making a case for CCs (Lietaer et al., 2012). While these reports do contain insightful data, they need to be taken with a grain of salt.

Despite a general lack of persuasive evidence of CC economic benefits, the potential of the abovementioned technological developments cannot be easily dismissed. One example is the Sarafu network in Kenya which is run on an immutable public blockchain, which “creates a rare opportunity for detailed impact evaluation at the individual and community level. Even minor changes to trading networks can be mapped and visualized, offering meaningful information on how cash transfers circulate within the local economy” (Mqamelo, 2021). This rich data allowed for the first randomized control trial of a CC network which yielded results indicating positive economic impact (Mqamelo, 2021: p. 16). Another digital CC that shows promise is the Sardex CC in Italy which, since its inception in 2009, has grown to over 2000 participating businesses and generated well over €50 million of turnover (Steed and Bindewald, 2015). These two examples show the latent potential for economic impact that CCs continue to showcase.

Social outcomes

The overall evidence of the social benefits of CCs is more persuasive due the higher number of reports and a lack of papers citing no impact in this regard. Papers purporting the beneficial social outcomes of CCs include reports on CCs contributing to social capital development (Richey, 2007), CCs as social support networks (Nakazoto and Hiramoto, 2012), and CCs contributing to social sustainability (Michel and Hudon, 2015). Furthermore, the well-known LETS system, which despite failing to induce noticeable local economic development has been shown to be far more effective at fostering community development and social capital (Williams et al., 2001; Seyfang, 2001; Slay, 2011).

Sustainable development outcomes

CCs have shown minimal impact regarding sustainable development benefits. According to Giménez and Tamajón (2019), the empirical evidence for the sustainable development-related benefits of digital CCs is “still highly marginal and incipient.” Dittmer (2013) writes that “existing research provides a very weak basis for advocating local currencies as tools for purposive degrowth.” Finally, Michel and Hudon (2015) state that, “very few studies explicitly identify environmental outcomes.” Consequently, the sustainable development benefits of CCs exhibited thus far are underwhelming with occasional exceptions such as a digital CC system in the East Belgian province of Limburg (E-portemonnee), which has shown some results regarding waste reduction using the currency (Steed and Bindewald, 2015).

Outcome summary

To summarize, the outcomes of CCs have been varied and at times simply disappointing to proponents. However, the creditable case for beneficial social outcomes, the growth in CC numbers and technological development as well as the evolving nature of CC systems, all strongly indicate that CCs still have a role to play in regional development, if not the world-changing phenomenon once touted by advocates in the 1990s.

Issues to be explored

In addition to the lack of measurement protocols, there are other issues within the field of CCs that require exploration to improve the understanding of CCs as a whole and they are discussed below.

CC management

One obstacle to the better comprehension of the management of CCs is the sheer variety of CCs that exists, making the CC field hard to comprehend and succinctly classify (Blanc, 2011; Martignoni, 2012; Tichit et al., 2016). The multiplicity of existing methods and mechanisms leaves prospective CC organizers with an overwhelming number of considerations when choosing to launch and manage a CC system (Sobiecki, 2018). Various reports (Bos and Booth, 2015; NEF, 2015) and practical guides (Lietaer and Hallsmith, 2006; Bindewald and Economics Foundation, 2014) have been undertaken investigating management practices and the role of CCs as public policy tools, most notably the Community Currencies in Action (CCIA) collaboration project. The outcomes of these investigations reveal a range of findings related to currency design, measuring impact, governance, financing, and other pertinent operational considerations. These findings while highly informative apply largely to the European CC experience, which still leaves question marks on the management of CCs outside of this context.

Long-term operability

Another issue observed in CC systems, which is linked to overall management, is the lack of long-term operability. It has commonly been observed that CC organizations around the world are launched with a lot of enthusiasm and high aims, but that many face a difficult route from there (Boonstra et al., 2013: p. 25). This tendency of CC organizations to cease operations after a few short years has been observed around the world including in Japan (Izumi and Nakazoto, 2017: p. 47), France (Blanc and Fare, 2018: p. 63), and Poland (Sobiecki, 2018: p. 111).

Literature that touches on the subject of the durability of CC organizations (at least in part) reveals several important areas of research focus. These include but are not limited to the notion of the relevant territory for a CC (Blanc and Fare, 2018), the influence of poverty rates on CC continuity (Collom, 2005), the association between successful CCs and less populated areas (Kim et al., 2016), and the evaluation and continuation of a CC project (NEF, 2015). However again, these studies deal primarily with Western (North American and European) CCs. Due to their localized nature, CCs cannot be understood or evaluated independently of their specific socio-economic and cultural environment (Schroeder et al., 2011: p. 35; Nishibe, 2018b: p. 17). Consequently, with regards to CC management and durability, research contributions from outside the Western context are somewhat lacking.

The linguistic divide

A third issue from the perspective of comprehending the Japanese CC field is the linguistic divide between CC research between Japan and the West. This linguistic divide, with the exception of a few English research papers, has prevented Western researchers from grasping the real situation of the Japanese CC space (Hirota, 2011: p. 25; Kobayashi et al., 2020: p. 2). It would indeed be hard for the few English papers published to accurately convey the Japanese CC scene. This is because there are hundreds of CC organizations within Japan, and even more importantly within the last 20 years, hundreds of Japanese CC organizations have risen and fallen (Kobayashi et al., 2020). Subsequently, given the relative lack of research on CC durability and management outside of the Western context, the authors’ aim is to provide a description of the long-term operation of Japanese CCs based on empirical evidence gathered from Japanese social entrepreneurs in the field. A secondary aim is to bridge the language gap and present previously under-reported concepts, mechanisms, or ideas that could have useful implications in the field of CC management and operation. What follows is an explanation of an internationally key CC model as well as a summary of the Japanese CC sector.

Key CC model: The LETS system

As mentioned above, the CC field is rich in variety, and as included in the abovementioned definition of CCs, we find a variety of CC types with broadly varying mechanisms and goals that defy concise explanation. However one model, the LETS model, is perhaps the best-known CC iteration and is broadly recognized as the “first generation of CC schemes” (Blanc, 2011: p. 8). Seyfang and Longhurst (2012: p. 12) identified 1412 CC organizations using the LETS mutual exchange mechanism across 14 countries. This made up 41.3% (1412/3418) of the CC systems they had identified worldwide in their study, which further underlines the international influence of this model. Furthermore with regards to this study, the LETS model was a key influence in the initial spread of CC systems in Japan (Yamazaki and Akai, 2010: p. 54) and has left an indelible print on the Japanese CC sector. Consequently, to add context to parts of this investigation and its findings, the LETS CC model will be briefly elucidated on.

LETS utilizes a mutual credit mechanism where members of a network list the skills, products, and services that they need as well as those they can provide in a central directory accessible to all. Using this directory, they can then contact each other to facilitate transactions. The following example illustrates a typical transaction: If Person A sells a product (or service) to Person B in the network, they notify the organization’s treasurer or record keeper (through a phone call or online notification) who then credits Person A’s account and debits Person B’s account by the same amount. Accordingly, the sum of all the members’ balances equals zero (Nishibe, 2004: p. 103).

One result of this kind of system is that the provision of goods and services within the network always matches the amount of currency issued, creating “a self-regulating economic network which allows its members to issue and manage their own money supply with a bounded system” (Ekins, 1986: p. 200). Shraven (2000, p. 6) also states that due to its provision of cheap and flexible credit, a LETS system “allows the marketing of labour time in small disperse quantities without the need for an employer or capital through market matching.”

The Japanese CC sector

The Japanese CC sector is relatively robust with 792 CCs created between 1999 and 2016 (Kobayashi et al., 2020: p. 3). Izumi and Nakazoto (2017) estimate that of all the CCs created between 1999 and 2016, approximately 204 organizations, are still in operation nationwide. With regards to their durability, Izumi and Nakazoto (2017) also estimate that 389 Japanese CCs were created between 1999 and 2008, and of those 389, about 20% (79) operated for 10 years or more. The organizations examined in this paper were selected mainly from this grouping. Overall, since the initial boom in CC organizations between 1999 and 2005, the number of new CCs created yearly has dropped; but over the last decade between 10 and 15 new CC organizations are launched annually (Kobayashi et al., 2020: p. 3; Izumi and Nakazoto, 2017: p. 43).

Categorization of Japanese CCs

Unsurprisingly, the relatively large Japanese CC sector has birthed a variety of CCs. Kobayashi et al., 2020 identified 537 CCs, launched between 1999 and 2016, that fit into their framework of 5 kinds of exchange media and 12 aims for CC circulation. The five forms of CC exchange media are coupon type (429), book type (104), due bill type (12), IC (integrated circuit) card (31), and online system (21). Some CCs have more than one issuing form resulting in a higher number of counted issuing forms (612) versus the number of CCs (537).

The coupon-type CC, usually issued as paper bills or vouchers, could be considered as the typical Japanese CC as it is by far the most numerous type. Coupon-type CCs have been described as “bridging the gap between volunteer activities and the economic activities of local shops” (Kurita et al., 2012: p. 137). Richey’s (2007: p. 3) description of a typical Japanese CC is an apt explanation of coupon-type CCs: “In a typical program, a town gives credits to those who attend a town meeting or volunteer for a town project. Volunteers can use their credits to pay for government services normally requiring real money, barter them with other citizens, or use them at participating stores.” Generally speaking, only participating business can redeem coupon-type CCs for Japanese yen (Kurita et al., 2012: p.136). In addition to local authorities, coupon-type CCs are also issued by local chambers of commerce, civic groups, and nonprofit organizations resulting in a variety of implementation forms.

Book-type CCs, also known as passbook CCs (Miyazaki and Kurita, 2018), are essentially the Japanese iteration of the LETS model with the key difference being that each user has their own passbook to record and monitor their own transactions. Japanese Passbook CCs reflect the LETS model’s capacity for community building as 93% of Japanese Passbook CCs are used for “creating connection among people” (Kobayashi et al., 2020: p. 4). Japanese CCs that use IC cards and online systems are relatively self-explanatory, while the due bill type refers to CCs that are issued as cheques.

Research purpose and methodology

As mentioned above, regarding the areas of CC management and durability, there is a lack of research from outside the Western context. Accordingly, contributions from the Japanese context, which has a relatively robust CC sector, could provide useful insights. Therefore, this paper aims to provide a descriptive framework of the operations of long-lived Japanese CCs. A secondary purpose is to bridge the language gap between Japanese CC research and the West by introducing ideas and practices of Japanese CCs that have previously been underreported in English and could have useful implications for the field.

To make the description as rich as possible, the Grounded Theory (GT) methodology was selected as it is “designed to develop a well-integrated set of concepts that provide a thorough theoretical explanation of social phenomena under study” (Corbin and Strauss, 1990: p. 5). GT is also used “to make statements about how actors interpret reality” (Suddaby, 2006: p. 633), making it a suitable methodology to describe the long-term management of CCs based on the reported experiences of CC organizers. In an inductive methodology like GT, the research questions are not fixed at the start of the investigation but are modified according to how the data gathering and analysis proceed (O’Reilly et al., 2012: p. 253). Therefore, one objective of the GT process is to uncover the most pertinent questions with regards to the overall research purpose, which was to provide a descriptive framework of the operations of long-lived Japanese CCs. What follows is an explanation of the research sites, data collection, and the analysis that produced the research questions for this investigation.

Research site selection

Twelve organizations were selected for investigation according to two overall basic criteria: longevity and variety. Firstly, all the selected organizations have been operating for at least 10 years. Secondly, the 3 kinds of currency issuance seen among the research sites (coupon type, online system, and passbook type) represent the majority of currency types used by Japanese CCs between 1999 and 2016 (Kobayashi et al., 2020). There is also variation regarding their success and efficacy as CC organizations. Some organizations exhibit impressive growth and development, some have seen a slow but gradual increase in circulation over the years, some organizations’ activities have declined significantly, and one has already failed. The basic information of the research sites can be seen in Table 1.

Table 1.

Research sites in order of analysis conducted (compiled by authors). Source: Interview data.

	CC organization	Operating years	Yearly issuance	Registered users	Currency type
1	Earthday Money	2001–2015 (14 years)	≈ 7 million yen (2010)	5955	Coupon type/online system
2	Tama Currency	2007–present (14 years)	4 million yen total (2007–2018	88	Coupon type
3	Awa Money	2001–present (20 years)	N/A	≈ 300	Passbook (LETS)
4	Toda Oar	2003–present (18 years)	≈ 2 million yen (2017)	N/A	Coupon type
5	Yorozu Ya	2009–present (12 years)	N/A	≈ 1100	Passbook (LETS)
6	Hirari	2004–present (17 years)	≈ 300,000 yen (2017)	201	Coupon type
7	Sarari	2008–present (13 years)	≈ 4 million yen (2017)	214	Coupon type
8	Maayu	2008–present (13 years)	N/A	≈ 182	Passbook (LETS)
9	Genki	2001–present (20 years)	≈ 5 million yen (2018)	N/A	Coupon type
10	Omusubi Currency	2010–present (11 years)	≈ 7 million yen (2018)	N/A	Coupon type
11	Atom Currency (1st Branch)	2004–present (17 years)	≈ 3 million yen (2019)	N/A	Coupon type
12	Peanuts	1999–present (22 years)	N/A	≈ 4000	Passbook (LETS)/online system

The investigation started with a list of 17 CCs pre-selected according to the abovementioned criteria. However, the order of investigation of the research sites was then decided by Theoretical Sampling, which is a means to gather data in a logical manner based on earlier data and the researcher’s analytical thinking (O’Reilly et al., 2012: p. 252). The overall logical intention was for the data collection to fluctuate between contrasting organizations in order to capture as much variation as possible in the data-gathering process. This evolved into a general oscillation in data gathering between LETS passbook CCs and coupon-type CCs. At times, CCs included in the original list could not be contacted due to them being shut down.

Data collection

There was a 4-year period of data collection (2016–2020). The primary data collection was done through semi-structured interviews (which were recorded and transcribed) with organizational leaders, and the GT methodology was applied to this data set. This primary data set was supplemented by quantitative data (currency circulation data and usage reports), observation visits, and convenience surveys (conducted during observation visits) for the purposes of data triangulation. The surveys focused on the characteristics of CC users (age, occupation etc.,) and their usage of the currency (frequency and purpose). The data gathering is summarized in Table 2.

Table 2.

Data gathering summary (created by authors).

	CC name	Primary data set		Data reports	Observation	Survey of CC users
	CC name	Transcribed interviews	Interview by email/fax	Data reports	Observation	Survey of CC users
1	Earthday Money	1 h 58 min		Digital account data (2006–2016)	1 observation (monthly market)
2	Tama Currency	44 min	2 times (email)		1 observation (planning meeting)	User survey
3	Awa Money	27 min	2 times (email)		1 observation (yearly festival)	User survey
4	Toda Oar	34 min	3 times (email)	2017 report	1 observation (festival event)	User survey
5	Yorozu Ya	25 min	2 times (email)
6	Hirari		4 times (email)	2017 report
7	Sarari	59 min		2008 and 2018 reports
8	Maayu	33 min	1 time (email)		1 observation (presentation and planning meeting)	User survey
9	Genki	41 min	1 time (fax)	2006–2018 reports
10	Omusubi Currency	43 min	1 time (email)
11	Atom Currency	51 min	1 time (email)	2004–2019 reports	1 observation (volunteering event)
12	Peanuts	54 min
		8 h 39 min	17 printed interviews	6 data reports	6 observations	4 surveys

Primary data set

As mentioned above, the GT methodology was applied to the primary data set (8 h and 39 min of transcribed interviews and 17 printed interviews) in order to identify the key areas or most pertinent research questions related to constructing a descriptive framework of the long-term operation of Japanese CCs. The email and fax interviews were usually for follow-up questions. The interview process is discussed next.

Interview process

The initial interview framework included a range of questions on areas pertinent to the management and longevity of CCs taken from the literature. Below are some of the original focal points of investigation chosen at the start of the investigation, which formed the bones of the initial interview framework.

1. The influence of socio-cultural factors on the operations of long-lived CCs (Nakazoto and Hiramoto, 2012).

2. The role of external stakeholders in the overall operations of the CC. As the majority of Japanese CCs are composed of nonprofits or civic organizations (Izumi and Nakazoto, 2017: p.43), nonprofit theory emphasizing the importance of external stakeholders (Crutchfield and Grant, 2012: p.35) was taken into consideration.

3. The role played by social or political bodies (Calvo and Morales, 2014).

4. The importance of funding strategies adopted by long-lived CCs (Kim et al., 2016).

These areas of focus evolved and transformed into the final research questions over the course of the investigation through insights in the interview process detailed below.

There was a 6-step process for each interview:

1. Conduct and transcribe the interview according to a semi-structured interview framework: A semi-structured framework was used to allow for flexibility in the development of the interview.

2. Organize the transcribed interview data into codes and themes using MAXQDA data analysis software: This was done according to a 3-step procedure known as theoretical coding (Corbin and Strauss, 1990: p.12; O’Reilly et al., 2012: p. 251), which processes the qualitative data by categorizing and grouping similar examples from the data first into codes and then larger themes.

3. Input the interview’s resulting themes into a comparison table, where the emerging themes of all the interview data could be visibly seen, tracked, and compared in a process of constant comparison (Glaser,1998: p. 147): The addition of the most recent interview data’s themes always necessitated a re-evaluation of all the previously uncovered themes. In this way themes were added, joined together, or demoted in significance after each interview. For example, the themes of “Reliable Funding” and “Leadership Continuity” only took shape between the 4^th and 6^th interviews, and the matching themes of passbook CCs only became clear by the 8^th interview.

4. Discuss the results of interview analysis with the Japanese co-author to confirm accuracy of interpretation: Given that almost all the interviews were conducted in Japanese by the principal author who (despite having reached the Japanese proficiency level of N2) is not a native Japanese speaker, a Japanese researcher (the co-author) participated in the data analysis process to provide more “theoretical sensitivity” (O’Reilly et al., 2012: p. 254).

5. Consider changes to the interview framework in the light of the most recent data: This meant considering whether there were new questions and/or follow-up questions that needed to be sent to previous interviewees. For example, by the 5^th interview it was clear that Leadership Continuity was becoming an emerging trend and consequently more specific questions (and follow-up questions) were asked to understand the differences and similarities in the various forms of long-term leadership. Questions regarding stakeholders such as local government and businesses also became more nuanced and specific as the authors began grasping the shared practices of some of the CCs. On the other hand, questions regarding influences from the local socio-cultural environment were kept in the interview framework despite yielding little or no fruitful responses. Midway through the investigation, it was clear that the local socio-cultural environment was not a strong influencing factor among the organizations investigated and therefore it dropped away as a key area of focus. Thus, through the cyclical process described here, the original focal points evolved into the research questions seen below.

6. Start preparations for the next interview.

Research question formation

Below are the 3 research questions that emerged from the GT process. These research questions were essentially explored by questions (and follow-up questions) developed in the evolving interview framework and corroborated by the supplementary data sources.

1. What kind of Leadership Continuity characterizes these organizations? At about the 5^th interview (Toda Oar), the prevalence of Leadership Continuity became apparent. Thus, questions around Leadership Continuity started becoming a core part of the questions asked. By the final interview, it was clear that Leadership Continuity was the unifying factor among all 12 organizations, as all of them had the same individual or group of individuals operating their currencies from the launch phase to the present day. Consequently, Leadership Continuity became the most effective lens through which to collectively analyze and describe these diverse organizations. Examination of this thematic “lens” revealed 3 distinctive forms of CC operation.

2. How do the different kinds of Leadership Continuity inform the operation of these CCs? Exploring the different forms of the Leadership Continuity revealed distinctive organizational structures, which informed a range of factors including questions of funding, supporting institutions and bodies, choice of circulation mechanisms, and attitudes regarding the overall vision for the currency.

3. What factors reinforced operations among the more robust research sites? While aspects related to Leadership Continuity and Reliable Funding were most prominent, as the investigation drew to a close it was clear that there was differentiation among the research sites regarding the effectiveness of their operations, particularly circulation. Two common factors of reinforcement were observed that served important functions across 6 of the research sites. Thus, the 3^rd research question was meant to explore these factors of reinforcement.

Findings

The findings, visually represented in Figure 1, show the unifying theme of Leadership Continuity and distinguish 3 broad operating forms emerging from this central theme. The descriptive framework also identifies 3 reliable funding strategies that were uncovered and 2 factors that reinforce the operations of the CCs in which they were identified. It needs to be emphasized that the theme of Leadership Continuity is not meant to signify a causal relationship between long-term leadership and the durability of these organizations. As stated previously, this theme merely emerged as the most effective lens through which to collectively describe the operations of these organizations.

Leadership continuity

RQ1

What kind of Leadership Continuity characterizes these organizations?

RQ2

How do different kinds of Leadership Continuity inform the operation of these CCs?

An examination of the Leadership Continuity of these organizations reveals 3 leadership approaches, which in turn inform 3 separate operating forms. These are discussed below.

Operating form 1: LETS Passbook communities (Maayu, Awa Money, Yorozu Ya, and Peanuts)

There were 4 of these LETS Passbook CCs among the research sites, and their Leadership Continuity was characterized by a low administrative burden on leadership, minimal funding requirements, and the personal fulfillment or enjoyment of managing the network. These organizations have a relatively informal approach, as the Japanese interpretation of the LETS system observed here is straightforward in concept and execution. Like the (predominantly Western) LETS systems discussed above they function as mutual credit networks. The key difference is that where Western LETS systems have a central administration point where members’ accounts are monitored and audited (Seyfang, 2001, p. 2, Williams et al., 2001: p. 4; Seyfang and Longhurst, 2012: p. 12), these Japanese LETS Communities do not.

In these LETS Passbook Communities, each newly registered member receives a small hand-held passbook (seen in Figure 2) wherein they are responsible for recording their own transactions and monitoring their own account. They are given access to a network of individuals and/or businesses to engage in transactions through an online mailing list (Takahashi, 2018, personal communication), regular gatherings (Yasui K, 2018, personal communication), or larger yearly events or festivals (Hayashi Y, 2018, personal communication). This is a significant departure from Western LETS systems, which due to the requirements of centralized supervision have been known to suffer from funding and administration issues (Williams, 1997: pp. 6–7; Aldridge and Patterson, 2002: p. 377). By contrast, the decentralized nature of these Japanese LETS Passbook Communities means that all of them can function on a yearly budget of less than ¥ 300,000 years (around $2600) and sometimes significantly less than that. This is usually gathered through membership fees. A secondary departure from typical Western LETS systems is that these 4 organizations have membership numbers (between 182 and 4000 members per LETS Passbook Community) far in excess of the average membership observed in Western countries. Williams (1997: p.4) puts LETS average membership in mid-1990s Australia at 144.8 members per network. During the same period, Williams et al (2001: p. 121) estimated the average LETS membership in England to be around 72 members per network. More recently, Jelínek et al., (2012) put the average LETS system membership in Central European Countries between 20 and 50 members with one outlier of 226 members.

The representatives of these LETS Passbook Communities all indicated that their networks were quite active regarding transactions between members. Convenience survey findings and reports from the literature support these assertions. Results from surveys of Awa-Money and Maayu users indicate that members of these organizations partake in transactions fairly regularly. Among Maayu respondents (n = 31), 34% stated that they engage in transactions on a monthly basis, while 20% engage in transactions on at least a bi-weekly basis. Fifty eight percent of Awa Money respondents (n = 26) transact on a monthly basis. This is most likely linked to their monthly cafe event (Hayashi Y, 2018, personal communication). In an in-depth investigation of Yorozu Ya, Kurita (2020: pp.223–224) acknowledges that Yorozu Ya has a high rate of success regarding the completion of transactions between members.

Operating form 2: Subsidized Coupon Type CCs (Sarari, Toda Oar, and Atom Currency)

Subsidized Coupon Type CCs are characterized by being issued as coupon-type CCs, institutional support (local government or a corporation) as well as leadership by executive committee. The institutional support these CCs receive facilitates the provision of regulated human resources (HR), which most likely contributed to making these organizations the most stable, in terms of the growth of their circulation, among the research sites. The leaders on these executive committees are not burdened with the issues of day-to-day operations of a CC and fulfill a largely decision-making role that requires meeting on a monthly (Atom currency and Toda Oar) or quarterly (Sarari) basis and occasional assistance at events. The modest time investment required as well as the committee members’ commitment to these CC projects seems to be the contributing factors to the Leadership Continuity in these organizations. Toda Oar and Atom Currency’s executive committees are almost unchanged since formation (Saito Y, 2018, personal communication; Hidaka U and Ishiwata M, 2017, personal communication), and Sarari has 2 committee members that have been there since the start (Oikawa Y, 2018, personal communication). The key common element among these Subsidized Coupon Type CCs is access to the resources of their supporting institutions.

Access to resources

During the CC boom period (around 2000–2005), there was a spike in media reports on CCs in Japan (Izumi and Nakazoto, 2017: p. 40) resulting in a broad awareness and interest in the CC concept. This influenced private and government institutions around Japan to mobilize their resources to launch their own CC projects. In separate statements, the representatives of both Sarari and Toda Oar acknowledged this broad awareness of CCs and its influence on the launch of their own CC. Atom Currency’s executive committee makes the same acknowledgment in their published book (Atom Currency Executive Committee, 2015: p. 232). This can be seen in the resources their respective institutions invested into launching these CCs, which naturally conferred benefits upon the CC creation process in different ways as summarized in Table 4. This includes the 3 forms of reliable funding identified, which had all been in place for at least 5 years:

1. Local Government Funding (Toda Oar and Sarari).

2. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Funding (Atom Currency).

3. Operating as a Subdivision of a Nonprofit (Sarari).

Table 4.

Institutional support for subsidized currency networks (compiled by authors).

CC name	Supporting institution	Manner of support
Toda Oar	Toda City Hall	a) Local government funding (¥750,000 yearly)
		b) Sponsored 2-year experimentation period
		c) All necessary administration work is done by City Hall employees (Saito Y, 2018, personal communication) (Saito, 2019)
Sarari	Sarabetsu Village Authorities	a) Local government funding (¥500,000 yearly)
		b) Outsourcing local government services to the nonprofit organization created to support Sarari’s activities
		c) The Sarari CC is accepted as payment for utilities (gas, electricity etc.) (Oikawa Y, 2018, personal communication) (Nishibe, 2018a)
Atom Currency	Tezuka Productions (Entertainment Corporation)	a) CSR indirect funding via character licence discount: Initially a 100% discount on the Astro Boy character licencing fee for the first branch (the character generates advertising revenue)
		b) After opening more branches nationally, a 99% discount on character licencing fee for each branch
		c) Marketing support
		d) Advice in hosting events (Hidaka U and Ishiwata M, 2017, personal communication) (Atom Currency Executive Committee, 2015: p. 236)

According to the circulation data provided by the 3 Subsidized Coupon Type CCs, all 3 experienced a steady overall increase in their issuance volume as well as an increase in the percentage of issued currency utilized at participating businesses from their launch to the present day. This indicates a progressively growing link between the civic or volunteer activities, where the CCs are issued, and the economic activities of local businesses.

Operating form 3: Non-Subsidized Coupon Type CCs (Earthday Money, Genki, Omusubi Currency, Hirari, and Tama)

Non-Subsidized Coupon Type CCs are characterized by being issued as coupon-type CCs, as well as their operations being strongly centered on their organizers or leadership. Genki’s 3 main representatives (elderly individuals) essentially work fulltime from Monday to Friday on a voluntary basis (Nitanda S, 2019, personal communication). Tama Currency’s two main representatives, despite having received no funding for several years, have been trying to revive the CC through cooperation with local-based organizations (Eda M, 2018, personal communication). With Earthday Money, when the two main representatives couldn’t sustain their involvement anymore, the CC stopped operating (Saga I, 2016, personal communication), illustrating the disadvantage of such a leadership-centered approach. Finally, when Hirari lost their government funding, their organizers made the decision not to abandon the CC, but to continue it as a subdivision of a newly launched nonprofit (NPO Azami) focusing on the care of disabled and elderly individuals (Goto M, 2018, personal communication).

The informal care provided via the issuance of the Hirari currency complements the professional care services provided NPO Azami. Hirari is also the only Non-Subsidized Coupon Type CC to have established a reliable funding source due to the founding of NPO Azami.

Reliable funding: Hirari

Very similarly to the subsidized Sarari currency, the unsubsidized Hirari currency operates as a subdivision of a nonprofit. Thus, we see an overlap between subsidized and non-subsidized coupon CCs on this third form of reliable funding (nonprofit subdivision). Just like the subsidized Sarari currency, the operations of unsubsidized Hirari currency rely on the financial health of its parent organization. In Sarari’s case, the nonprofit was launched with local government backing for the specific purpose of acting as a support platform from which the CC could circulate. In the case of Hirari, the nonprofit was launched by the Hirari leadership after they lost their government funding, and they needed a support platform from which to continue running the currency (Goto M, 2018, personal communication). Essentially, the funding mechanism for both these organizations is very similar except that one was implemented with the support of the local government and the other had no such support. Fortunately for the unsubsidized Hirari currency, Azami NPO is in relatively good financial health. Azami NPO has had increased demand for their home visitation and elderly care services since their launch in 2012. The Azami revenue chart from their 2017 result report reveals an approximate four-fold increase in monthly revenue from their launch in April 2012 (¥1,110,000) to February 2017 (¥4,590,000) (NPO Azami, 2018). The same report also shows an increasing trend in Hirari’s CCs activities. However, it needs to be stated that despite these positive trends, the Hirari CC is yet to match the level of CC activity it had prior to losing its government funding. Furthermore, the Hirari representative stated that one of the key issues they are facing is having sufficient human resources to operate both Azami NPO and the Hirari CC (Goto M, 2018, personal communication).

Aspirational outlook

A key difference between Subsidized Coupon Type CCs and Non-Subsidized Coupon CCs is that among the latter you are more likely to find leaders with an aspirational outlook. Earthday Money had the ambitious goal of guiding and curating a volunteer movement in Tokyo by connecting nonprofits throughout Shibuya with potential volunteers in a kind of “volunteer economy” (Hatta K, 2017, personal communication). Genki was a pioneering CC when it was launched (2001), being the very first CC in Japan that could be used in shopping districts, and its organizers are very strongly focused on using it as a tool for promoting “paid volunteering” (Nitanda S, 2019, personal communication). Finally, Omusubi Currency’s founder has the ambitious goal of creating a truly independent currency whose value will be backed by a basket of commodities (Yoshida D, 2019, personal communication). This is strikingly different from Subsidized Coupon Type CCs, who perhaps due to their relationships with more conservative institutions consider themselves to be subtle and minor social tools. Atom Currency stresses this very point in the introduction section of their book (Atom Currency Executive Committee, 2015: p. 4) stating that Atom Currency is not a “magical medicine” for local development. By contrast, Non-Subsidized Coupon CC organizers tend to be more aspirational regarding their overall vision for the organization.

Factors of reinforcement

RQ4

What factors reinforced operations among the more robust research sites?

The fourth research question emerged from the observation that there were clearly varying levels of operational accomplishment among the research sites, particularly regarding circulation among coupon-type CCs. This underlines the fact that the maintenance of a CC operation over the long-term is certainly not synonymous with effective long-term operation. Two factors of reinforcement were uncovered that seemed to enhance the operations of 6 CC organizations. These are discussed below.

i. The Support of Business Evangelists.

ii. Having a Designated Area for CC Use

The support of business evangelists

Business evangelists refer to local business leaders who enthusiastically support the development of the CC, and these were found across all three forms of CC operation identified in Figure 1. Among the coupon-type CCs, with the exception of Omusubi currency, there is a stark contrast between CCs that have Business Evangelists versus those with none. Coupon-type CCs that had the support of Business Evangelists (Toda Oar, Sarari, Atom Currency, and Genki) all had steady or increasing circulation of their currencies as well as steady or increasing use of their currencies.

Atom Currency’s executive committee member Mr Junichiro Yasui is the head of the national shopping street association and a former member of the House of Representatives (System Brain Ltd, 1998), which forms one half of Japan’s National Diet. He is credited with aiding the national expansion of Atom Currency (Atom Currency Executive Committee, 2015: p. 244) after local business leaders supported the initial launching of the currency (Atom Currency Executive Committee, 2015, p. 235). With Toda Oar, the local chamber of commerce facilitates communication with participating businesses (who are all registered members) and conducts the exchange with Japanese yen free of charge (Saito Y, 2018, personal communication). In Sarari’s case, the head of the local chamber of commerce was particularly enthusiastic about starting a CC and worked hard to influence local stakeholders (Oikawa Y, 2018, personal communication). Finally, with Genki, the support of the Dairi shopping district leadership assisted the launch of the CC in 2004 (Yamazaki, 2013: p. 64). By contrast Hirari, Earthday Money, and Tama’s lack of association with local business leadership resulted in business dissatisfaction with Hirari’s circulation mechanism (Goto M, 2018, personal communication), lack of interest from Tama’s participating businesses (Eda M, 2018, personal communication), and communication problems with Earthday Money’s participating stores (Saga I, 2016, personal communication).

Regarding Passbook Communities, a key point that differentiates Peanuts from the 3 other Passbook Communities is their much greater engagement with the business community. Peanuts has 50–60 participating businesses (Kaiho M, 2020, personal communication), whereas each of the other LETS Passbook Communities has less than 10, largely due to their indifference to linking with businesses. Peanuts’ connection to the business community is primarily because one of their main organizers (Mr Kaiho) has been a local businessman for over 50 years as well as the local shopping association chairman for 7–8 years (Kaiho M, 2020, personal communication). This stronger link to the local business community could be a contributing factor as to why Peanuts has a significantly larger number of registered members than the other Passbook Communities.

Designated area for CC use

Having a designated area set aside for CC use not only reinforces but also has become central to the operations of one CC (Omusubi Currency) and appears to enhance the circulation of a second CC (Atom Currency).

Omusubi Currency hosts a Kids Dream Market (KDM) around 3 times a month, where elementary school children sell products and services (homemade food, 2nd hand toys, games etc.). Market attendees, after exchanging Japanese yen for Omusubi Currency, pay the children using the CC. Any CC that is earned or purchased at the KDM can then be used at hundreds of participating businesses throughout Toyota City, and the KDM has recently started spreading to neighboring prefectures (Omusubi Tsuuka, 2022). According to its founder, Omusubi Currency has a yearly budget of around ¥35, 000, 000, and until 2016 they relied on grants as an important source of funding (Yoshida D, 2019, personal communication). However, since then, the KDM has become Omusubi Currency’s only source of income and the organization’s operations are centered on it. The revenue comes from corporations such as AEON Mall and DCM Holdings who own and run shopping complexes. These corporations pay Omusubi Currency to run the market at their complexes (Yoshida D, 2019, personal communication). In this regard, Omusubi Currency is unique among the research sites in having a regularly occurring market as its primary revenue source and sole point of issuance (Yoshida D, 2019, personal communication).

Atom Currency’s Onagawa branch does not have a designated area as such; however, since the town’s rebuilding after the 2011 Tsunami, the businesses were rebuilt and centered around the train station creating a “compact central urban district” (Japanese Government Public Relations Office, 2009). Because Atom Currency holders know exactly where to use the currency, the Onagawa branch’s geographical concentration of participating businesses appears to be a strong influencing factor for maintaining a high usage rate for the currency. And indeed, according to Atom Currency branch data, the Onagawa branch has the highest and most consistent usage rates (82.1% of issued currency with a standard deviation of 3%—Atom Currency, 2021) at participating businesses among all 6 Atom Currency branches.

Discussion

This paper has provided a descriptive framework of the operations of long-lived Japanese CCs that identifies 3 broad operating forms, 3 reliable funding strategies, and 2 factors of operational reinforcement. The framework is by no means a comprehensive description of all types of long-lived Japanese CCs; however, it does provide insight into the operations of 2 forms of issuance mechanisms (coupon-type and passbook) selected by the vast majority of Japanese CCs. The findings expand on these previously established categories of Japanese CCs, providing more detail and presenting key aspects of their operation.

The findings also reveal 3 unique forms of CC operation generally not found among Western CC systems that have interesting implications regarding the management and operation of CCs in general. Firstly, the LETS Passbook communities’ decentralized method of transactional management runs counter to the traditional LETS networks implementation but seemingly requires very little funding to implement and sustain. Secondly, the Atom Currency network shows the potential for CSR expression through the issuance of a CC. The funding via an almost complete discount of a famous character’s licencing fee is also a novel funding implementation. Thirdly, Omusubi Currency’s network being completely centered around and funded by a market that encourages entrepreneurial development in young children is also a unique implementation strategy.

Limitations

Insufficient failed research sites

The chief limitation of this paper is that there were not enough research sites that had failed completely to contrast those who had had a greater measure of success. One did fail completely (Earthday Money) and two did have a reduction of their activities (Hirari and Tama); however, further examples of failure could have provided a deeper, more insightful description of long-lived Japanese CCs.

Theoretical saturation not achieved

A secondary limitation of this paper is that with regards to the GT implementation, classic theoretical saturation (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) was not reached. Consequently, the description of the research sites, while providing potentially valuable insights into the long-term operation of Japanese CCs, cannot be said to be a complete description of the phenomenon under study or representative of all long-lived Japanese CCs. An investigation of long-lived Japanese CCs utilizing IC cards and online methods could be a valuable complement to this paper’s findings.

Principal author’s linguistic and cultural limitations

A third limitation is the fact that the principal author is not a native Japanese speaker and almost all the interviews were conducted in Japanese. While compensations were made for this in terms of adjustments to the methodology and working with a knowledgeable and experienced Japanese co-author, it is possible that some of the data’s richness was not effectively captured.

Conclusion

These findings represent one of the most recent posts in the development of CC systems since they’ve begun to be documented in earnest around 30 years ago. Seyfang and Longhurst (2012, p. 21) state that, “there is an evolutionary quality to the currency field, where new models emerge out of the knowledge and experience of older ones.” In many ways, this paper is a review of the evolution of Japanese CCs within the last 20 years, and the authors’ aim is that the findings uncovered here will be of use to researchers, policy-makers, and practitioners in their attempts to advance and develop CC systems around the world.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Jeremy September

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