尺 Shaku

Radical Combination

• 尺

  Shrimp

Meaning

Primary

Shaku

Alternative

Japanese Foot

Mnemonic

This shrimp is the exact length of a shaku, or Japanese foot. That’s how they came up with this form of measurement. They measured the length of this shrimp and it was the length of a Japanese foot which they deemed the shaku. It’s equal to 30.3cm, very close to one imperial foot.

Hints

Imagine this foot long shrimp. It’s pretty big. Imagine it squirming about making a “shaku shaku” sound as it worms about.

Readings

On’yomi

しゃく

Kun’yomi

None

Nanori

None

Mnemonic

How is shaku, the Japanese foot, pronounced by Shaq (しゃく) in Japanese? Why Shaq pronounces it shaku. It’s pronounced shaku in both English and Japanese.

Hints

Imagine Shaq dribbling the shrimp like a basketball, saying “shaku, shaku, shaku” every time he bounces the shrimp.