Japanese numismatic charm

[3] 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.

[3] 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.

[3] 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.

[3] 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.

[7] The Buddhist "且空藏棄" Japanese numismatic charm cast during the years 1736–1740 in Japan during the Tokugawa shogunate dedicated to the Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva based on one of the favourite mantras of Kūkai is frequently found in China.

[8][9][10] There is a variant Daruma doll which features Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, holding a Northern Wei dynasty period Taihe Wuzhu (太和五銖, tài hé wǔ zhū) cash coin.