2 Kan Mon

Morioka Domain, a Nanbu clan territory in Mutsu Province, issued its own paper currency throughout the Edo period as part of the broader hansatsu system — the practice of individual feudal domains printing notes redeemable only within their own borders. These notes were not legal tender elsewhere and were a common mechanism for domains to manage local liquidity, essentially creating closed monetary circuits that kept silver and gold from leaving domain coffers.

The 1835 issue falls within a period of fiscal pressure across many northern domains, following crop failures and famine conditions associated with the Tenpō crisis. Morioka was not insulated from that stress.