Japanese Units of Measurement

Japanese Units Of Measurement

Shakkan-hō (尺貫法?) is the traditional Japanese system of measurement. The name shakkanhō originates from the name of two of the units, the shaku, a unit of length, and the kan, a mass measurement.

The system is Chinese in origin. The units originated in the Shang Dynasty in the 13th century BC, and eventually stabilized in the Zhou Dynasty in the 10th century BC and spread from there to Japan, South East Asia, and Korea. The units of the Tang Dynasty were officially adopted in Japan in 701, and the current shaku measurement has hardly altered since then. Many Taiwanese units of measurement are derived form the shakkanhō system.

From 1924, the shakkanhō system was replaced by the metric system, and use of the old units for official purposes was forbidden after 31 March 1966. However, in several instances the old system is still used. In carpentry and agriculture use of the old-fashioned terms is common. Tools such as Japanese chisels, spatels, saws, hammers are manufactured in sizes of sun and bu. Land is sold on the basis of price in tsubo. The 2005 Japanese census freed people to give the area of their houses in either square metres or tsubo.

There are several different versions of the shakkanhō. The tables below show the one in common use in the Edo period. In 1891 the most common units were given definitions in terms of the metric system:

1891 definitions
Unit Definition Conversions
Romanized Kanji
Length metres metres inches feet yards
1 jō 丈 100⁄33 3.03  119.3  9.942  3.314 
1 kanejaku 曲尺 10⁄33 0.303 11.93 0.9942 0.3314
Volume litres litres millilitres US
fluid ounces		 Imperial
fluid ounces
shō 升 2401⁄1331 1.804    1804   61.00    63.49   
Mass grams grams drams ounces pounds
1 momme 匁 15⁄4 3.75  2.116  0.1323  0.008267
Note: Definitions are exact and conversions are rounded to four significant figures.

Read more about Japanese Units Of Measurement:  Length, Area, Volume, Mass, Money, Other Units

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