Nihonto Club

Japanese

Definition

The shaku is an archaic Japanese unit of length which is commonly approximated to be 12 inches (1 foot). As with other measurements, it was originally derived from nature: the average length between nodes on bamboo. Since 1891, the shaku has been defined to equal 10/33 meter (approximately 30.3 cm, or 11.93 inches), or 3.3 shaku to the meter. A single shaku is divided into 10 sun (寸).

1 shaku = 11.93 inches (30.30 cm)

1 shaku = 10 sun
1 sun = 1.193 inches (3.03 cm)

1 sun = 10 bu
1 bu = 0.119 inches (0.303 cm)

1 bu = 10 rin
1 rin = 0.01193 inches (0.0303 cm)