#Glossary & Weights and Measures

Contents

This dictionary is a small companion reference for this volume. Its purpose is to convey an approximate sense, not precise conversion. For game-rule values, see co.

---

#Scent — Words of an Older Age

To understand an era, you must understand the words of that era.

When a samurai says "I will call on you one toki hence," we today have no idea how long that is. When a merchant says "I will offer you one koku of rice," we cannot grasp how much that actually is.

This section is a small bridge that spans those gaps in intuition. There is no need to memorize it. Keep it beside you while reading and glance at it wherever you need it.

---

#Time (時間)

In Japan's Sengoku era, variable-hour timekeeping (不定時法) was used — the length of day and night hours was measured differently according to the season. When summer days were long, a daytime "toki" was also long. When winter nights were long, a nighttime "toki" was also long. A different sense from the uniform clocks of today.

This book's conventional usage: "one toki before dawn" = around 4–5 a.m. (varies by season).

In-game time terms (carried over from the main co text):

• maai (間合) — the concept of one combat round. In original Japanese, "maai" means the sense of distance to an opponent.
• kokyu (呼吸) — a brief instant within a maai.
• shoko (小康) — a brief rest between combats.

---

#Distance · Length (長さ · 距離)

A sense of length:

- Katana blade length: generally 2–2.5 shaku (60–75cm).

- Nagae-yari (長柄槍) length: 3–5 ken (5–9m). Nobunaga's units used especially long ones.

- One city block in Kyoto: about 1 cho (109m).

---

#Weight · Volume (重さ · 量)

#Weight

#Volume (rice standard)

What "kokudaka (石高)" means: A figure expressing the scale of a domain by converting it to the amount of rice the domain produces in a year. "A hundred-thousand-koku daimyo" = enough rice from that domain to feed 100,000 adults for a year.

- Minimum stipend for a samurai household: 50–100 koku (lower ranks)

- Scale of a major daimyo house: several thousand to several million koku

- The largest Sengoku daimyo (the Toyotomi): 2,000,000 koku and above

---

#Currency (貨幣)

Sengoku-period currency used gold, silver, and copper in three intermingled streams. Exchange rates varied by region and period.

Reference for scale (Sengoku-period average):

- One sho of rice (approx. 1.4kg): 30–50 mon

- One meal of rice and soup: 10–20 mon

- Lower samurai's monthly stipend (spending money, excluding rice): several kanmon (several thousand mon)

- A coin pouch: one to two kanmon (approximately one to two thousand mon)

- One masterwork sword: several hundred ryo (hundreds of millions of mon)

---

#Social Rank · Office (身分 · 職位)

#Official Rank

#Warrior Class

#Civilian Rank

#Religious · Clergy

---

#Everyday Objects (日用品)

---

#Arms · Armor (武具)

#Swords

#Pole Arms

#Firearms

#Armor

---

#Domain · Politics (領地 · 政治)

---

#Society · Institutions (社会 · 制度)

---

#Yoma · Spiritual (妖魔 · 靈的)

---

#Sects · Temples (宗派 · 寺院)

---

#Place Names · Geographic Sense (地域)

---

#Scent — One Line

Words are the clothing of an era. Only by knowing the clothing can you see the person.