1.
mon — a unit of currency in pre-modern Japan
A common small unit of currency in Japan from the medieval period through the Edo period, used until the yen replaced it in 1871. A single mon was a trivial sum, so the word often appears in proverbs and set phrases meaning "a tiny amount of money."
一文も持っていない。
I don't have a single mon. (= I'm penniless.)
そんな物は三文の価値もない。
Something like that isn't worth even three mon. (= It's worthless.)
江戸時代の物価は文という単位で表された。
Prices in the Edo period were expressed in a unit called the mon.
An old currency unit, replaced by the 円 (yen) in 1871. It survives mainly in idioms that express "a tiny sum."
COMMON EXPRESSIONS:
- 一文無し: penniless, without a single coin
- 二束三文: dirt cheap (lit. two bundles for three mon)
- 早起きは三文の徳: the early bird gets the worm (lit. early rising is worth three mon)
NOTE:
Read {ぶん}, the same kanji means "sentence; writing"—a separate word. As {もん} it was also a historical unit for shoe size.