Shaku (unit)
Shaku | |
---|---|
Unit system | Japanese units |
Unit of | length |
Symbol | 尺 |
Conversions | |
1 尺 in ... | ... is equal to ... |
US units |
Shaku (Japanese: 尺) or Japanese foot[1][2] is a Japanese unit of length derived (but varying) from the Chinese chi, originally based upon the distance measured by a human hand from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger[3][a] (compare span). Traditionally, the length varied by location or use, but it is now standardized as 10/33 m, or approximately 30.3 centimeters (11.9 in).
Etymology in English
Shaku entered English in the early 18th century,[4] a romanization of the Japanese Go-on reading of the character for Japanese foot (尺, shaku).
Use in Japan
The shaku had been standardized as 30.3 cm (11.93 in) since 1891.[5] This means that there are about 3.3 shaku (10⁄33) to one meter.[6][7]
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
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 shaku, with the most common width being three shaku (rounded up to 910 mm (35.83 in)).In Japanese media parlance, shaku refers to screen time: the amount of time someone or something is shown on screen (similar to the English "footage").[9]
History
Traditionally, the actual length of the shaku varied over time, location, and use. By the early 19th century, the shaku was largely within the range of 0.30175 to 0.303 meters (11.880 in to 11.929 in),[1] but a longer value of the shaku (also known as the kōrai-shaku) was also known, and was 1.17 times longer than the present value (35.5 centimeters or 14.0 inches).[7][2]
Carpenter's unit and tailor's unit
Another shaku variant was used for
To distinguish the two variants of shaku, the general unit was known as the "metal shaku" (金尺/曲尺, kanejaku).
Derived units
Length
Just as with the Chinese unit, the shaku is divided into ten
Volume
Ten cubic shaku comprised a koku, reckoned as the amount of rice necessary to sustain a peasant for a year.
Outside Japan
The Japanese shaku also forms the basis of the modern Taiwanese foot.
In 1902, the Korean Empire adopted the Japanese definition of the shaku as that of the ja (자). [citation needed]
See also
Notes
- ^ East Asian custom usually considers a span from thumb to index finger rather than from thumb to little finger.
References
- ^ a b Hoffmann, Johann Joseph (1876), A Japanese Grammar, Volume 6 of Classica Japonica facsimile series. Linguistics (2, reprint ed.), E. J. Brill, pp. 166–167
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8048-1492-8.
- ^ 説文解字 No.5398 「尺、所以指尺䂓榘事也。」
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Volume XV page 148Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1986
- U.S. Metric Associationpage)
- ^ a b Details of the two shaku units at sizes.com
- ^ OCLC 56431036. Archived from the originalon 2007-08-25. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
- ^ A note on shakuhachi lengths
- ^ Glossary (Japanese) ESP Entertainment school
- ^ 甲
- ^ 乙 Archived 2010-10-18 at the Wayback Machine
Bibliography
- Weiner, E. S. C.; ISBN 0-19-861227-3.