shaku (unit)

{{transl|ja|Shaku}} entered English in the early 18th century,Oxford English Dictionary, Volume XV page 148Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1986 a romanization of the Japanese Go-on reading of the character for {{nihongo|{{linktext|Japanese foot}}|{{linktext|尺}}|shaku}}.

The {{transl|ja|shaku}} had been standardized as {{convert|30.3|cm|in|sp=us|abbr=on|2}} since 1891.[http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/internat.htm#japan Japanese Metric Changeover] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990221223050/http://lamar.colostate.edu/~hillger/internat.htm |date=1999-02-21 }} by Joseph B. Reid, President Emeritus, Canadian Metric Association (U.S. Metric Association page) This means that there are about 3.3 {{transl|ja|shaku}} ({{frac|10|33}}) to one meter.[http://www.sizes.com/units/shaku.htm Details of the two shaku units] at [http://www.sizes.com sizes.com]{{cite encyclopedia | encyclopedia = Nihon Kokugo Daijiten | title = 尺 | trans-title = Shaku | url = http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ | access-date = 2012-10-29 | year = 2012 | publisher = Shogakukan | location = Tokyo | language = ja | oclc = 56431036 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070825113418/http://rekishi.jkn21.com/ | archive-date = 2007-08-25 }}

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.{{cite journal | script-title = ja:官報 1909年06月25日 | journal = 官報 | volume = 7799 | issue = | pages = 515 | publisher = :ja:大蔵省印刷局 | date = 25 June 1909 | language = ja | url = https://dl.ndl.go.jp/pid/2951149/1/1 | jstor = | issn = | doi = 10.11501/2951149 | id = | mr = | zbl = | jfm = | access-date = 2024-12-06 | author1 = 大蔵省印刷局 }}{{Cite wikisource|title=度量衡法|wslanguage=ja}}

{{Quotation|{{lang|ja|明治二十四年（1891年）三月二十四日法律第三號 度量衡法
第四條 從來慣用ノ鯨尺ハ布帛ヲ度ルトキニ限リ之ヲ用ヰルコトヲ得
鯨尺一尺ハ一尺二寸五分トシ其ノ十倍ヲ鯨尺一丈、十分ノ一ヲ鯨尺一寸、百分ノ一ヲ鯨尺一分トス}}}}

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 {{transl|ja|shakuhachi}} ({{transl|ja|"shaku"}} and {{transl|ja|"eight"}}) derives its name from its length of one {{transl|ja|shaku}} and eight {{transl|ja|sun}}.[http://reibo.org/shaklengths.html A note on shakuhachi lengths] Similarly, the {{transl|ja|koku}} 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 {{transl|ja|shaku}}, with the most common width being three {{transl|ja|shaku}} (rounded up to {{convert|910|mm|abbr=on|2}}).

In Japanese media parlance, {{transl|ja|shaku}} refers to screen time: the amount of time someone or something is shown on screen (similar to the English "footage").[http://www.esp.ac.jp/epv/glossary/03_03.html Glossary] (Japanese) ESP Entertainment school

Traditionally, the actual length of the {{transl|ja|shaku}} varied over time, location, and use. By the early 19th century, the {{transl|ja|shaku}} was largely within the range of {{convert|0.30175|to|0.303|m|sp=us}}, but a longer value of the {{transl|ja|shaku}} (also known as the {{transl|ja|kōrai-shaku}}) was also known, and was 1.17 times longer than the present value ({{convert|35.5|cm|sp=us|disp=or}}).{{cite book |title=Measure and construction of the Japanese house |author=Heino Engel |publisher=Tuttle Publishing |year=1985 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JqiLJD35FTUC |page=22 |isbn=978-0-8048-1492-8}}

Another {{transl|ja|shaku}} variant was used for measuring cloth, which measured {{frac|125|330}} meters ({{convert|37.9|cm|sp=us|disp=or}}), and was known as the {{nihongo|"whale {{transl|ja|shaku}}"|鯨尺|kujirajaku}}, as baleen (whale whiskers) were used as cloth rulers.

To distinguish the two variants of {{transl|ja|shaku}}, the general unit was known as the {{nihongo|"metal {{transl|ja|shaku}}"|金尺/曲尺|kanejaku}}. The Shōsōin treasure house in Nara preserves some antique ivory one-{{transl|ja|shaku}} rulers, known as the {{nihongo||紅牙撥鏤尺|kōgebachiru-no-shaku}}.[https://web.archive.org/web/20080415035503/http://shosoin.kunaicho.go.jp/publictreasure/0000010045001.html 甲][http://shosoin.kunaicho.go.jp/publictreasure/0000010046002.html 乙] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101018175019/http://shosoin.kunaicho.go.jp/publictreasure/0000010046002.html |date=2010-10-18 }}

{{main|cun (unit)|zhang (unit)|ken (unit)|koku}}

Just as with the Chinese unit, the {{transl|ja|shaku}} is divided into ten smaller units, known as {{nihongo||{{linktext|寸}}|sun}} in Japanese, and ten {{transl|ja|shaku}} together form a larger unit known in Japanese as a {{nihongo||{{linktext|丈}}|jō}}. The Japanese also had a third derived unit, the {{transl|ja|ken}}, equal to six {{transl|ja|shaku}}; this was used extensively in traditional Japanese architecture as the distance between supporting pillars in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines.

Ten cubic {{transl|ja|shaku}} comprised a {{transl|ja|koku}}, reckoned as the amount of rice necessary to sustain a peasant for a year.

The Japanese {{transl|ja|shaku}} also forms the basis of the modern Taiwanese foot.

In 1909, the Korean Empire adopted the Japanese definition of the {{transl|ja|shaku}} as that of the {{transl|ko|ja}} ({{lang|ko|자}}). {{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

• Japanese units of measurement

{{notelist}}

{{reflist|2}}

• {{cite book

| author = Weiner, E. S. C.

|author2=Simpson, J. A. |author-link2=John Simpson (lexicographer)

| title = The Oxford English Dictionary

| publisher = Oxford University Press

| orig-year = 1989| year = 2004

| isbn = 0-19-861227-3

}}

{{Japanese architectural elements}}

Category:Japanese words and phrases

Category:Units of length