Japan

units of length for measuring cloth

Shakkan system, as legally standardized in 1891.

						hiki
					tan	2
				jo	2.8 - 3	5.6 - 6
		shaku (kujirajaku)		10	28 - 30	56 - 60
		sun	10	100	280 - 300	560 - 600
	bu	10	100	1000	2800 - 3000	5600 - 6000
rin	10	100	1000	10,000	28,000 - 30,000	56,000 - 60,000
0.01491 inches	0.14913 inches	1.49128 inches	14.91287 inches	4.1424 yds	11.598 - 12.4272 yds	23.196 - 24.85 yds
0.378* mm	0.378* cm	3.7878* cm	37.878* cm	3.78* m	10.606 - 11.3635 m	21.212 - 22.727 m

*The kujirajaku (the draper's shaku) is 1.25 ordinary shaku. The repeating decimal in the metric conversion comes from taking 1 meter = 3.3 ordinary shaku (by the law of 1909), so the kujirajaku = 1/3.3 times 1.25 = 0.378787878.... meters.

Blockhuys states the conversions shown are “based upon the computations published by the Japanese authorities, consequent upon the law of March, 1909.”

E. J. Blockhuys.
Vade-Mecum of Modern Metrical Units. 17th edition, revised and enlarged.
Tokyo: Dobunkwan, 1924.

Page 44.