The tsubo, Japanese unit of area
The tsubo is exactly 400/121 of a square meter, or 3.3058 m². It is the square of one ken of six shaku, and it is the area of two tatami mats laid side by side.
Japan's Measurement Law barred the shakkanhō from sale deeds on 1 April 1966, and the tsubo did not go away: property listings still quote a price per tsubo, the tsubo tanka, next to the floor area in square meters. The two tatami that make it up are not the same size everywhere, from the kyoma of Kyoto to the edoma of Tokyo, and only the tsubo keeps a fixed value.
The tsubo in other units
| 1 tsubo | 0.00000330579 km² |
| 1 tsubo | 0.000330579 ha |
| 1 tsubo | 0.0330579 a |
| 1 tsubo | 3.30579 m² |
| 1 tsubo | 33,058 cm² |
| 1 tsubo | 0.00000127637 mi² |
| 1 tsubo | 0.000816877 ac |
| 1 tsubo | 35.5832 ft² |
| 1 tsubo | 5,124 in² |
| 1 tsubo | 3.95369 yd² |
| 1 tsubo | 3,305,785 mm² |
| 1 tsubo | 0.00330579 dunum |
| 1 tsubo | 0.000787092 feddan |
| 1 tsubo | 0.00206612 rai |
| 1 tsubo | 1 pyeong |
| 1 tsubo | 0.0188902 qirat |
| 1 tsubo | 0.0326751 guntha |
| 1 tsubo | 0.0816877 cent |
| 1 tsubo | 0.00653502 kanal |
Frequently asked questions
How many tsubo is a 70 m² flat?
21.2 tsubo. Three-room flats in the big Japanese cities run from about 20 to 25 tsubo, and that is the figure an agent keeps in mind even when the listing prints square meters.
Why 400/121 of a square meter and not a round figure?
Because the 1891 law fixed the shaku at ten thirty-thirds of a meter. The ken is six of them, twenty elevenths of a meter, and the tsubo is its square: 400/121, with no rounding anywhere in the chain.
How do I turn a price per tsubo into a price per square meter?
Divide by 3.3058: a million yen per tsubo comes to 302,500 yen per square meter. The other way round, multiply a price per square meter by 3.3058 to get the tsubo tanka the agency displays.