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shō [Japanese 升]

In Japan, ? – 20ᵗʰ century¹, a unit of both dry and liquid capacity,= 10 gō, since 1891 exactly ²⁴⁰¹⁄₁₃₃₁ liters, approximately 1.8039 liters or about 0.205 U.S. peck.

Rice is traditionally measured in a square wooden box made of cypress, holding 1 shō. The box is 4.017 sun on a side. Other sources² say the box was 4.9 sun by 4.9 sun, 2.7 sun deep. Sake and soy sauce are often sold in 1-shō bottles.

In the 16ᵗʰ century, the shō was approximately 3.6 liters.

1. United Nations, 1966.

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

Page 46.