NARA, Jan 29 (News On Japan) - Japan’s oldest coin is often said to be Wado Kaichin, a name many people remember from school textbooks, but an even older form of coinage was discovered in Asuka Village in 1999, triggering widespread attention and forcing historians to rethink the origins of Japanese currency. The workshop ruins themselves were first identified in 1991, and subsequent excavations uncovered fragments of unfinished Fuhonsen coins, typically found in pairs, providing clear proof that the coins were being manufactured on site rather than imported or produced solely for ritual purposes. Archaeologists also discovered gold, silver, glass products and earthenware, indicating that the site functioned as a large-scale, integrated production facility, unlike anything previously known from the period. The Asuka Ike Workshop ruins are located within the grounds of the Manyo Culture Museum, which recreates scenes from the Manyoshu, Japan’s oldest anthology of poetry, using models and visual displays to convey the lives and landscapes of the era, and visitors entering the museum are immediately confronted with the preserved remains of the workshop itself. Further investigation into the coin production area revealed more than 500 fragments of failed or broken Fuhonsen coins, indicating large-scale manufacturing and distribution, since completed coins would have been shipped out, leaving only defective pieces behind.