Japanese government-issued currency in the

Netherlands Indies
The Netherlands Indies gulden, later the Netherlands Indies roepiah ([ruˈpiah]), was the
currency issued by the Japanese occupiers in the Dutch East Indies between 1942 and 1945. It
was subdivided into 100 sen and replaced the gulden at par.

Contents [show]

History Edit

Background Edit 10 Guilden banknote, part of the

Japanese invasion issue of
In December 1941, the Empire of Japan began its assault on Borneo, in the Malay Archipelago;
banknotes.
by January 1942 its armies had begun to attack those parts of the island which were part of
the Dutch East Indies. This was followed by attacks on Sumatra and Java in February.
Ultimately, on the Dutch colonial government capitulated on 8 March 1942, though pockets of resistance lasted for several
months.[1] In the succeeding months, the Japanese government closed the existing banks, seized existing assets and currency,
and assumed control of the Indies' economy.[2]

Java was left under the administration of the Sixteenth Army, Sumatra under the Twenty-Fifth Army, and the remainder of the
archipelago under the Japanese Navy.[3] This administrative division meant that some notes were highly localized. For instance,
the 100 and 1000 gulden notes, with a design similar to that used in occupied Malaya (also under the Twenty-Fifth Army), were
only meant to be circulated in Sumatra. There is no evidence, however, that the latter were actually in use.[4]

Occupation Edit

The Japanese occupation government immediately began issuing military banknotes for use in the occupied Indies, as had
previously been done in other occupied territories.[3] These first banknotes were printed in Japan, and issued by the Ministry of
Finance.[5][3] This issue formally retained the gulden name, though in common indigene parlance it was called oeang Djepang
(Japanese money) or oeang pisang (banana money, for the prominent bananas on the ten gulden note).[5] Each gulden (or, later,
roepiah) consisted of 100 cents (sen).[6]

After the occupation began, the Japanese military government ruled that, as of 11 March 1942, the only valid currency in the
region were military banknotes and existing colonial gulden.[4] Soon, however, they had begun replacing the pre-war currency at
par.[5] They soon required that all extant Dutch currency be exchanged for the occupation issue. This policy, however, was not
implemented very strictly, and pre-war currency was widely hoarded, even in the internment camps.[5]

In March 1943, the Japanese occupation government ceased issuing military notes; at the time, military currency to the value of
353 million gulden was in circulation.[7] Printing operations were moved to Kolff in Batavia (now Jakarta), Java.[5] These
banknotes, which experienced no change in appearance, were issued by the Southern Development Bank (SDB), which had been
established the preceding year and was managed by Yokohama Specie Bank and Bank of Taiwan.[8]

Under the SDB, an increasingly large amount of currency was issued; the economist Shibata Yoshimasa writes that, by the end of
1943, the total circulation had almost doubled to 674 million gulden, reaching almost two billion by the end of 1944.[9] This
increase in circulation was followed by a drastic increase in inflation. Ultimately, this currency, renamed the roepiah for the 1944
issue,[10] was widely used but highly deprecated.[5]

Post-surrender Edit
The Japanese forces surrendered on 15 August, and two days later the Republic of Indonesia proclaimed its independence.[6]
Initially, the widely available Japanese-issued roepiah were accepted as legal tender, together with the pre-war gulden, in both
areas controlled by the Netherlands and those under Republican rule;[5] indeed, the Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA)
printed more to deal with the costs of reestablishing Dutch administration in the area, though this also led to a continued increase
in inflation.[11] Japanese issued notes were not, however, at par with pre-war gulden; in Java, the exchange rate was 10:1 to 12:1.
[12]

On 6 March 1946, Dutch-controlled areas replaced the Japanese-issue roepiah with the NICA-issued gulden, giving an official
exchange rate of 3 NICA gulden to 100 Japanese rupiah.[13] The Republican government followed suit on 30 October 1946,
replacing the occupation currency with Oeang Repoeblik Indonesia (ORI) at an official rate of 50 Japanese roepiah for 1 ORI.[14][15]
However, owing to the ongoing Indonesian National Revolution and the resulting chaotic monetary landscape, Japanese-issued
bills remained in use into 1949.[6]

The Indonesian Minister of Finance, Alexander Andries Maramis, estimated in 1946 that the Japanese had put some 2.2 billion
roepiah into circulation by the end of the occupation.[5] Yoshimasa gives a considerably higher amount, over 3.1 billion.[9] The
American historian Robert Cribb, meanwhile, writes that the Japanese issued considerably more than they recorded, and that –
combined with money printed after the Japanese surrender – the actual total could be between 3.5 to 8 billion, with only 2.7
billion issued during the occupation.[11]

Issuance Edit

1942 (ND) Gulden Issue Edit

The Japanese invasion money used in the Netherlands Indies was first denominated in Gulden (1942) [16] and later in Roepiah
(1944–45).[17] The Gulden issue bears the payment obligation "De Japansche Regeering Betaalt Aan Toonder" (The Japanese
Government pays to the bearer) on notes one-half Gulden and above.[18] On smaller change notes (1–10 cents) it is shortened to
“De Japansche Regeering”.[16] All Japanese invasion money used in the Netherlands Indies bear the block prefix letter “S” either
followed by a number (lower denominations, 1–10 cents), a second letter, or as the numerator in a fractional block layout.[19]
Serial numbers were used for the initial printings of higher denomination notes (i.e., 1, 5, and 10 Gulden) but the printing
machinery used by the Japanese after March 1943 (i.e., Kolff printing facility in Jakarta) did not allow for automatic sequential
numbering thus the task was very slow and often resulted in multiple notes with the same serial number.[20] By the middle of the
second printing (the SB block) serial numbers were abandoned.[18] Notes of one-half gulden and above are printed on paper
watermarked with a repeating kiri flower.

1944 (ND) Roepiah Issue Edit

First issued in September 1944, the "Dai Nippon Teikoku Seihu" notes (The Administration of the Japanese Troops) were
denominated in Roepiah and printed entirely in Java.[4]

1944-45 Roepiah Issue Edit

Banknote table Edit

Japanese gulden (1942) Edit

1942 complete issue of Japanese invasion money

(Japanese Gulden)
Printing
Image Value Issue date Images[19]
blocks[19]
1 Cent 1942 unk scroll work
5 Cents 1942 unk scroll work

10 Cents 1942 unk scroll work

Half Gulden 1942 SA–SK, SM, SL Fan palm; scroll work

Breadfruit tree; scroll

1 Gulden 1942 SA–SI, SL, SN
work

5 Gulden 1942 SA–SG Coconut palm, pawpaw;

scroll work
 Banana tree, coconut
10 Gulden 1942 SA–SI, SK, SL palm; palm trees,
horizon

Japanese roepiah (1944) Edit

1944 issue of Japanese invasion money

(Japanese Roepiah)
Image Value Issue date Images[19]

One-half Roepiah 1944 ornate dragon

1 Roepiah 1944 Rice growing; Banyan tree

5 Roepiah 1944 Batak house; Batak woman

10 Roepiah 1944 Javanese dancer; Buddha,

stupas (Borobudur Temple)
 Vishnu on Garuda, Saruda, Lion;
100 Roepiah 1944
Wayang puppet

References Edit

1. ↑ Ricklefs 1993, p. 195. 11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Cribb 1981, p. 120.

2. ↑ Yoshimasa 1996, p. 704. 12. ↑ Cribb 1981, p. 119.

3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Yoshimasa 1996, p. 701. 13. ↑ Cribb 1981, pp. 119, 123.

4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Bank Indonesia Museum 2008, p. 4. 14. ↑ Cribb 1981, pp. 127.

5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Cribb 1981, p. 114. 15. ↑ Judisseno 2002, p. 56.

6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Cuhaj 2010, p. 876. 16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Cuhaj 2010, p. 886.

7. ↑ Yoshimasa 1996, p. 702. 17. ↑ Cuhaj 2010, p. 887.

8. ↑ Yoshimasa 1996, pp. 711–12. 18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Cuhaj 2010, pp. 886-87.

9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Yoshimasa 1996, p. 712. 19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Cuhaj 2010, pp. 886-88.

10. ↑ Cuhaj 2010, p. 888. 20. ↑ Cribb 1981, p. 126.

Works cited Edit

Bank Indonesia Museum (2008). "DJB [De Javasche Bank during the Japanese Occupation (1942 – 1945)"]. Bank
Indonesia Museum. http://www.bi.go.id/en/tentang-bi/museum/sejarah-bi/pra-
bi/Documents/5a4d6fe74be3459aafe57051105a50fbMicrosoftWordDJBduringtheJapaneseOccupation_194219.pdf
.
Cribb, Robert (April 1981). "Political Dimensions of the Currency Question 1945-1947" . pp. 113–136.
http://cip.cornell.edu/DPubS?service=UI&version=1.0&verb=Display&handle=seap.indo/1107015200 .
Cuhaj, George S., ed (2010). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money General Issues - 1368-1960 . 2. Krause.
ISBN 978-1-4402-1293-2. http://books.google.com/books?id=BuNA39dnuHsC .
Ricklefs, M. C. (1993). A History of Modern Indonesia since c.1300 (2nd ed.). Hampshire: MacMillan. ISBN 978-0-333-
57689-2.
Judisseno, Rimsky K (2002) (in Indonesian). Sistem Moneter dan Perbankan di Indonesia [Monetary and Banking
System in Indonesia]. Jakarta: Gramedia. ISBN 978-979-686-895-7.
Yoshimasa, Shibata (1996). "The Monetary Policy in the Netherlands East Indies under the Japanese Administration"
. pp. 699–724. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27864801 .

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