Japanese Units of Measurement - Volume

Volume

These units are still used, for example, in sake production.

Table of volume units
Unit shō Metric US liquid measure Imperial
Romanized Kanji millilitres litres fluid ounces pints gallons fluid ounces pint gallons
sai 才 1⁄1000 1.804 1.804×10−3 0.06100 3.812×10−3 4.765×10−4 0.06349 3.174×10−3 3.968×10−4
shaku 勺 1⁄100 18.04  0.01804 0.6100  0.03812 4.765×10−3 0.6349  0.03174 3.968×10−3
gō 合 1⁄10 180.4   0.1804  6.100   0.3812  0.04765 6.349   0.3174  0.03968
shō 升 1 1804    1.804   61.00    3.812   0.4765  63.49    3.174   0.3968 
to 斗 10 1.804×104 18.04    610.0     38.12    4.765   634.9     31.74    3.968  
koku 石 100 1.804×105 180.4     6100      381.2     47.65    6349      317.4     39.68   
Notes:
  • Conversions to metric, imperial and US customary units are rounded to four significant figures.
  • The gō is a common size for serving sake.
  • The shō (about 64.827 cubic sun) is a common sake-bottle size (generally labelled as 1800 ml).
  • The koku (about 40.95 US dry gal) originally was the volume of rice a person would eat in one year.

Read more about this topic:  Japanese Units Of Measurement

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