Shaku (unit)

Template:Nihongo or Japanese foot<ref name=hoffman>Template:Citation</ref><ref name=engel/> is a Japanese unit of length derived (but varying) from the Chinese Template:Transliteration, originally based upon the distance measured by a human hand from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger<ref>説文解字 No.5398 「尺、所以指尺䂓榘事也。」</ref>Template:Efn (compare span). Traditionally, the length varied by location or use, but it is now standardized as 10/33 m, or approximately Template:Convert.

Etymology in English

Template:Transliteration entered English in the early 18th century,<ref name="oed">Oxford English Dictionary, Volume XV page 148Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1986</ref> a romanization of the Japanese Go-on reading of the character for Template:Nihongo.

Use in Japan

The Template:Transliteration had been standardized as Template:Convert since 1891.<ref>Japanese Metric Changeover Template:Webarchive by Joseph B. Reid, President Emeritus, Canadian Metric Association (U.S. Metric Association page)</ref> This means that there are about 3.3 Template:Transliteration (Template:Frac) to one meter.<ref name=sizes>Details of the two shaku units at sizes.com</ref><ref name="kokugo">Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>

This definition was established by Meiji government law; until then, even though the unit was given the same name, its length varied depending on the era. At the same time, other units were established based on shaku.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite wikisource</ref>

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English：1Shaku = 10Cun = 100bu
Japanese：1尺 = 10寸 = 100分

The use of the unit for official purposes in Japan was banned on March 31, 1966, although it is still used in traditional Japanese carpentry and some other fields, such as kimono construction. The traditional Japanese bamboo flute known as the Template:Transliteration (Template:Transliteration and Template:Transliteration) derives its name from its length of one Template:Transliteration and eight Template:Transliteration.<ref>A note on shakuhachi lengths</ref> Similarly, the Template:Transliteration remains in use in the Japanese lumber trade. In the Japanese construction industry, the standard sizes of drywall, plywood, and other sheet goods are based on Template:Transliteration, with the most common width being three Template:Transliteration (rounded up to Template:Convert).

In Japanese media parlance, Template:Transliteration refers to screen time: the amount of time someone or something is shown on screen (similar to the English "footage").<ref>Glossary (Japanese) ESP Entertainment school</ref>

History

Traditionally, the actual length of the Template:Transliteration varied over time, location, and use. By the early 19th century, the Template:Transliteration was largely within the range of Template:Convert,<ref name=hoffman /> but a longer value of the Template:Transliteration (also known as the Template:Transliteration) was also known, and was 1.17 times longer than the present value (Template:Convert).<ref name="kokugo" /><ref name=engel>Template:Cite book</ref>

Carpenter's unit and tailor's unit

Another Template:Transliteration variant was used for measuring cloth, which measured Template:Frac meters (Template:Convert), and was known as the Template:Nihongo, as baleen (whale whiskers) were used as cloth rulers.

To distinguish the two variants of Template:Transliteration, the general unit was known as the Template:Nihongo.<ref name=sizes/> The Shōsōin treasure house in Nara preserves some antique ivory one-Template:Transliteration rulers, known as the Template:Nihongo.<ref>甲</ref><ref>乙 Template:Webarchive</ref>

Derived units

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Length

Just as with the Chinese unit, the Template:Transliteration is divided into ten smaller units, known as Template:Nihongo in Japanese, and ten Template:Transliteration together form a larger unit known in Japanese as a Template:Nihongo. The Japanese also had a third derived unit, the Template:Transliteration, equal to six Template:Transliteration; this was used extensively in traditional Japanese architecture as the distance between supporting pillars in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.<ref name=engel/>

Volume

Ten cubic Template:Transliteration comprised a Template:Transliteration, reckoned as the amount of rice necessary to sustain a peasant for a year.

Outside Japan

The Japanese Template:Transliteration also forms the basis of the modern Taiwanese foot.

In 1909, the Korean Empire adopted the Japanese definition of the Template:Transliteration as that of the Template:Transliteration ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}). Template:Citation needed

See also

• Japanese units of measurement

Bibliography

• Template:Cite book