Abstract
This paper aims to illuminate how community currencies function as people’s credit in local community from two points of view, and the development of them in Japan. First, community currencies are explained by free money theory in 1930’s, three functions of money and so on. Second, they are classified into three systems from the distinction between the ways to create credits. Compared with community currencies in foreign countries, there are various kinds of systems in Japan earlier on. In foreign countries and Japan, they are mainly empowered to stimulate informal economy and work different mechanism from market mechanism.
