 Dōjima Rice Exchange

The Dōjima Rice Exchange (堂島米市場, "Dōjima kome ichiba", 堂島米会所, "Dōjima kome kaisho"), located in Osaka, was the center of Japan's system of rice brokers, which developed independently and privately in the Edo period and would be seen as the forerunners to a modern banking system.It was first established in 1697, officially sanctioned, sponsored and organized by the shogunate in 1773, reorganized in 1868, and dissolved entirely in 1939, being absorbed into the Government Rice Agency (日本米穀株式会社)(cf.