At least that's what it appears to be. For those of you who can read Japanese, the truth (or folly) of my assumption will be obvious. I'll be very grateful for whatever thoughts, opinions, and/or suggestions any of you can offer about this volume. It is in excellent condition, with original clear dustjacket intact, though torn. The slipcase shows some discoloration, but is otherwise quite sound.
That's the old style Japanese-- read from right to left. The Japanese pronunciation is "Kahei no Oitachi". "Kahei" is money, specifically, coins and currency, and "oitachi", as you correctly noted, can be translated as "history". It was put out by the Japanese Mint Bureau and the Asahi Newspaper Publishing Company. The Japanese in the third image says "How has money changed?"
This book may be relatively uncommon - can you try to locate the page of when this was published? I'm sure it would be in published back in Showa which you will find it difficult to find.
Not sure how old that book is but I suggest you be really carefull handling the pages. Would be a great object for the Antique Road Show. Possibly if there is a museum in your area you may want to see if they can tell you if it is valuable and/or how to take care of it so it doesn't start to disentigrate.
According to this Japanese web site, the book was published in September 1940 http://mulopac.lib.ryukoku.ac.jp/cgi-bin/mopac/books-query?smode=1&code=21052859 And this Japanese web site lists a value of 4000 yen, or about $40, for the book. It is listed as book #11633 (number on the far left) http://www5b.biglobe.ne.jp/~usebk-i/datafile/zaisei.htm
Thanks, good sir...I don't have Japanese characters on my machine (I couldn't read 'em if I did) so the two links were indecipherable...but I'm grateful for the tips. It came back in '52 with the uncle I mentioned and he had noted, when he gave it to my Dad, that it was more than ordinarily valuable. It's full of excellent line drawings that allowed me to surmise the 'history' aspect of content. If you'd like, I can take a few more pics to send your way...tho' you've probably got your own copy, and certainly have access to to superior references. Regards...
