Japanese numismatic charm

Japanese numismatic charms (Japanese: 絵銭 or 画銭), also known as Japanese amulets, Japanese talismans, or simply Japanese charms, are a family of cash coin-like and other numismatic-inspired types of charms that like the Korean and Vietnamese variants are derived from Chinese numismatic charms (also referred to as Yansheng coins or huāqián), but have evolved around the customs of the Japanese culture. Although most of these charms resemble Japanese cash coins and the amulet coins of China, they contain their own categories unique to Japan. In the case of these coins, "charm" in this context is a catchall term for coin-shaped items which were not official (or counterfeit) money. However, these numismatic objects were not all necessarily considered "magical" or "lucky", as some of these Chinese numismatic charms can be used as "mnemonic coins".

Kokuji charms

Japanese numismatic charms can include characters never used on any official coins such as Kokuji, which is a national script unique to Japan similar to Gukja in Korea or Chữ Nôm in Vietnam, these charms, with the pronunciation sa mu ha ra (, さ・む・は・ら), were usually given by village elders to soldiers when they left to fight in the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, currently these charms are being used by travellers for supposed protection and are usually sold by shops at shrines. These charms serve a similar function as Saint Christopher medals do in the Western world.

According to the article published in the August 1992 issue of the Japanese magazine "Collections" (收集), a number of Kokuji charms were created in the year 1937 (Shōwa 12) by the director of the Japan Mint to be used as a kind of protective amulet. The design of these Kokuji amulets resembles the base of the canon emplacements that were used in the past to protect the shores of Japan from hostile pirate ships. During World War II, it was further customary for some Japanese people to write Kokuji on a piece of paper and then attach the inscription to the roofs of their houses. This was done in the belief that the paper Kokuji amulets would protect them from incendiary bombs dropped by the allied forces, such as the United States, during the war.