1 Monme Shiga

Omi Province han-satsu of this type were issued by commercial establishments — roadside teahouses, sake brewers, wholesalers — rather than domain administrations, making them merchant scrip rather than feudal currency in any formal sense. The Morisan Chaya was a teahouse operator issuing its own monme-denominated paper to ease transactions along trade routes through the province, likely the Nakasendo or its local branches. This is precisely the category of Edo-period private emission that Meiji reformers targeted for abolition in 1871 under the new national currency laws.

The narrow strip format is characteristic of monme-denomination merchant scrip from the Kinki region. Forgery of such notes was common enough that most issuers incorporated handwritten authentication marks or personal seals — checking for these is more meaningful than examining any printed element.