I was looking into alternate units to support and it came up on Google.
Just trying to figure out how niche the unit is. I assume most of Japan uses metric for length and height measurements.
by PhrulerApp
I was looking into alternate units to support and it came up on Google.
Just trying to figure out how niche the unit is. I assume most of Japan uses metric for length and height measurements.
by PhrulerApp
15 comments
Only place I’ve seen it used is for kimono. Might also still be used in other traditional arts.
Traditional related stuff uses it. I just heard it today in a lecture about Taiko drums, talking about the diameters of different drums and the lengths and thickness of different bachi sticks to use with them… they used the traditional measurements 尺, 寸, 分 (which obviously has a lot of other uses and meanings, but one of them is 1/100 of a 尺)
尺 is also used as a measure of diameter for traditional fireworks (basically all are ball-shaped).
It’s still used extensively in carpentry. Carpenter’s measuring tools will have markings for shaku.
Windows and sliding doors are often 1 ken (間) wide which is 6 shaku, the length of one tatami mat (there is some regional variation). Anytime I’ve had carpenters in my house, I hear them measuring everything in shaku and sun.
It’s not exactly related to your question but I have heard it many times in the expression “尺が足りない” (too short/not long enough).
In addition to the stuff already mentioned, it’s still pretty commonly used in construction and construction materials, especially in woodwork and flooring. You might already know this, but the “alternate units” of 畳 and 坪 are also often used in real estate, most commonly used when talking about finished room sizes, and the size of plots, respectively.
Oh, and not just kimono, but _zoori_, _geta_, _setta_, etc. will also often use 寸 （1/10th of a 尺)
Fun fact: the term 尺/シャク is also often used in TV/broadcasting to refer to the length of a segment or cut. For example, 尺オーバー means a segment or commercial went longer than expected/intended, 尺ショート is the opposite, and 尺直し would be what you might need to do in one of those situations. In media, フル尺 would refer to the full/original length of something, usually referring to a movie or tv show, rather than a shortened version for rebroadcasting
Yea if you want to check bodycount ask how many 尺八 they’ve やったことある
I use it for my iaitos, they’re 2.60 shaku and 2.55 shaku.
There’s hasshaku-sama, not sure if she counts though.
尺 is also the word for length of video / audio. So if you have a video that’s 30 seconds long you would say 動画の尺が30秒あります
尺 is actually also used in voice work to represent measures (timings/durations) that lines need to fit into. I’ve heard about it from voice actor interviews.
my japanese drumheads are measured in shaku.
It’s still used extensively in carpentry and the building industry. Older builders/ carpenters will work exclusively in Shaku. Younger builders/carpenters generally prefer to work in metric, but need to be completely comfortable working in Shaku if working anything more than 30-40 years old.
I found a very old onigawara in our backyard that must have come from when the property was a temple and the clay had Shaku 8 Sun 3 carved on the back.Not sure what the purpose was, but my carpenter friend said he doesn’t really use shaku anymore (but it sounded like some other people might).
Despite all the examples given in the thread, do still be aware that for most modern stuff in society, for most intents and purposes, we use metric.
The 尺 length unit is only used in traditional fields where it has been already in use for a very long time.
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