Japan has its own unique system for measuring area and space, which is called “Shakkan-ho”. Made up of “Shaku” a measurement of length and “Kan” a measurement of mass.
One shaku is equal to approximately “one foot” or more accurately 30.3 centimeters, and all other units of measurement in the system are fractions or multiples of the “shaku”. The shaku was derived from nature and is described to be the average distance between nodes on bamboo. Shaku is still used in construction in Japan; for example plywood is commonly manufactured in 182 x 91 cm sheets, known as “Saburokuhan” or literally “3 x 6” shaku. Saburokuhan is effectively the same size as a Tatami Mat that are measured in “–JO” (please see my entry of September 12th), and therefore shows how the different measurement types all relate to the “Shaku”.
Another very common measurement counter in Japan is the “Tsubo”, which is how area is expressed in Japanese society. 1 Tsubo = 2 tatami mats or 2-JO. Tsubo is still commonly used in the Real Estate Industry in Japan not only for land, but also for describing floor-space in both offices and houses. A typical plot of land used for the building of a Japanese home is 40- 50 tsubo that equates to approximately 130- 150 square meters, or slightly over 1,000 square feet. It is very common for office space to be quoted in yen per tsubo. In Nagoya for example, the market for office space in the downtown area fluctuates anywhere between 10,000 yen per tsubo (approximately 3,000 yen per square meter) through to 30,000 yen per tsubo (or 10,000 yen per square meter), which is what you would pay to have an office in the new Toyota Midland Square Building. Naturally, 30,000 yen per tsubo is the starting point for offices in many locations in Tokyo. One tsubo = approximately 3.3 square meters, or 35.58 square feet.
Hopefully this helps you to work out what the hell your Japanese acquaintances are talking about when they throw the tsubo measurement in your face!
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