This 18 cm brass ruler is divided to millimeters along one edge. An oval (0) is stamped over the dividing line for the fifth, tenth, and fifteenth units. The other edge is divided into six units of 1-3/16" (3 cm). Each unit is thus roughly equivalent to the sun, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a shaku, a "foot" measure. The units are subdivided into 50 parts. Each unit is marked with a small "0." The fifth units has a row of three zeroes above the "0."
The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education before transfer to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
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