Japanese Units of Measurement - Area

Area

The tsubo, which is essentially the area of two standard sized tatami mats (tatami have an aspect ratio of 2:1, so two side by side form a square), is still commonly used in discussing land pricing in Japan. Note that actual tatami vary in size regionally, though legally the area of a tsubo is standardized. The larger units are also commonly used by Japanese farmers for discussing the sizes of fields. These units are practically equivalent to metric units of area which are for registrations of land, and no conversions are needed or colloquially used.

Table of area units
Unit tsubo Metric Imperial/US
Romanized Kanji square
metres		 square
inches		 square
feet		 square
yards
1 shaku 勺 1⁄100 0.03306 51.24 0.3558 0.03954
gō 合 1⁄10 0.3306  512.4  3.558  0.3954 
jō 畳 1⁄2 1.653   2562   17.79   1.979  
tsubo 坪 1 3.306   5124   35.58   3.954  
bu 歩 1 3.306   5124   35.58   3.954  
se 畝 30 99.17    1.537×105 1067     118.6    
tan 段, 反 300 991.7     1.537×106 1.067×104 1186     
chō 町 町歩 3000 9917      1.537×107 1.067×105 1.186×104
Notes:
  • Conversions to metric, imperial and US customary units are rounded to four significant figures.
  • A jō is the size of one tatami mat-used in quoting room sizes.
  • 1 tsubo = 1 square ken-used in construction.
  • 1 bu = 1 square ken-used in agriculture.
  • 1 tan ≈ 0.09917 hectares ≈ 0.2451 acres
  • 1 chō ≈ 0.9917 hectares ≈ 2.451 acres

Read more about this topic:  Japanese Units Of Measurement

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