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[[File:Clock.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A 17th century Japanese-made clock based on European technology]]

[[File:Clock.jpg|right|thumb|320px|A 17th century Japanese-made clock based on European technology]]

In [[Edo period]] Japan, the day was divided into six ''koku'' (刻), and the night another six ''koku'', for a total of 12 ''koku'' corresponding to each full day-night cycle. Each ''koku'' was thus roughly equivalent to two hours of the modern 24-hour day, though they grew longer and shorter as the length of the day shifted with the seasons. In winter, when days were shorter (and nights longer), the daytime (昼) ''koku'' were shorter, and the nighttime (夜) ''koku'' longer. In summer, the reverse was the case. The "hour" was announced within cities by a series of belltowers; in [[Edo]], a bell in the [[Hongokucho bell|Hongoku-chô]] neighborhood, near [[Nihonbashi]], was rung for each "hour," and was then re-announced by a series of eight bells located elsewhere in the city.<ref>Timon Screech, "An Iconography of Nihon-bashi." in ''Theories and Methods in Japanese Studies: Current State and Future Developments''. Bonn University Press, 2008. pp330-331.</ref> The bells would be rung nine times at midnight and noon, stepping down to eight bell strokes one "hour" (one ''koku'') later, then seven, then six bell strokes to announce dawn or dusk, followed by five tones, then four, jumping back up to nine as it reached midnight or noon. Diaries and other documents of the time often record the time by the number of bells rung; for example, a given diarist might indicate that an event occurred at 暮六ツ時 (''kure mutsu doki'', lit. "dusk six [bells] hour") or 六ツ時分 (''mutsu jibun'', lit. "six [bells] hour"). The [[sexagenary cycle]] was also used to keep time, with the ''koku'' period of nine bells around midnight being called the Hour of the Rat, and the period of six bells around dawn being called the Hour of the Hare, for example.

In [[Edo period]] Japan, the day was divided into six ''koku'' (刻), and the night another six ''koku'', for a total of 12 ''koku'' corresponding to each full day-night cycle.<ref>Incidentally, a similar system was used in [[Qing Dynasty]] China, where they divided the day and the night each into five (rather than six) divisions, called ''geng'' 更. Higa Etsuko, Robin Thompson (trans.), ''Uzagaku: The Vanished Tradition of Ryukyuan Court Music'', CD liner notes, Uzagaku fukugen ensô kenkyûkai (2007), 30.</ref> Each ''koku'' was thus roughly equivalent to two hours of the modern 24-hour day, though they grew longer and shorter as the length of the day shifted with the seasons. In winter, when days were shorter (and nights longer), the daytime (昼) ''koku'' were shorter, and the nighttime (夜) ''koku'' longer. In summer, the reverse was the case. The "hour" was announced within cities by a series of belltowers; in [[Edo]], a bell in the [[Hongokucho bell|Hongoku-chô]] neighborhood, near [[Nihonbashi]], was rung for each "hour," and was then re-announced by a series of eight bells located elsewhere in the city.<ref>Timon Screech, "An Iconography of Nihon-bashi." in ''Theories and Methods in Japanese Studies: Current State and Future Developments''. Bonn University Press, 2008. pp330-331.</ref> The bells would be rung nine times at midnight and noon, stepping down to eight bell strokes one "hour" (one ''koku'') later, then seven, then six bell strokes to announce dawn or dusk, followed by five tones, then four, jumping back up to nine as it reached midnight or noon. Diaries and other documents of the time often record the time by the number of bells rung; for example, a given diarist might indicate that an event occurred at 暮六ツ時 (''kure mutsu doki'', lit. "dusk six [bells] hour") or 六ツ時分 (''mutsu jibun'', lit. "six [bells] hour"). The [[sexagenary cycle]] was also used to keep time, with the ''koku'' period of nine bells around midnight being called the Hour of the Rat, and the period of six bells around dawn being called the Hour of the Hare, for example.

Western-style weight-driven mechanical clocks were first introduced to Japan in [[1550]], when [[Francis Xavier]] gave one as a gift to ''daimyô'' [[Ouchi Yoshitaka|Ôuchi Yoshitaka]]. By the beginning of the 17th century, it was not uncommon for ''daimyô'' and other elites to possess clocks based on such technology. However, since their mechanisms were designed in Europe to tell regular time, one hour per hour, 24 hours per day, like clockwork (literally), they had to be modified to allow for these seasonal shifts in the length of the “hours” (or ''koku''). Attendants were made to adjust the small weights which drove the clockwork every day, or every few days, to accommodate the days growing longer or shorter. For this reason, as well as the expense and difficulty of getting such clocks reproduced, they remained only a novelty, and were generally owned only by samurai elites. Indeed, the secrets of the technology were kept close for quite some time, and were only published in [[1796]], in a volume entitled ''Illustrated Compendium of Mechanical Devices'' (''Karakuri zui'', by [[Hosokawa Yorinao]]).<ref name=british>"Imports to Japan: clocks," gallery labels, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20701659478/sizes/l]</ref>

Western-style weight-driven mechanical clocks were first introduced to Japan in [[1550]], when [[Francis Xavier]] gave one as a gift to ''daimyô'' [[Ouchi Yoshitaka|Ôuchi Yoshitaka]]. By the beginning of the 17th century, it was not uncommon for ''daimyô'' and other elites to possess clocks based on such technology. However, since their mechanisms were designed in Europe to tell regular time, one hour per hour, 24 hours per day, like clockwork (literally), they had to be modified to allow for these seasonal shifts in the length of the “hours” (or ''koku''). Attendants were made to adjust the small weights which drove the clockwork every day, or every few days, to accommodate the days growing longer or shorter. For this reason, as well as the expense and difficulty of getting such clocks reproduced, they remained only a novelty, and were generally owned only by samurai elites. Indeed, the secrets of the technology were kept close for quite some time, and were only published in [[1796]], in a volume entitled ''Illustrated Compendium of Mechanical Devices'' (''Karakuri zui'', by [[Hosokawa Yorinao]]).<ref name=british>"Imports to Japan: clocks," gallery labels, British Museum.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/20701659478/sizes/l]</ref>