Chapter · Japan · Today
Thirty years that count for four hundred
A country that changed its hours, its week and its calendar
In 1873 Japan changed its calendar and the way it counted hours. Before that, nine o'clock meant noon, the hours changed length with the season, and the week did not exist. This path looks at what a country alters when it alters time, and at what refuses to follow.
Context first
A lesson to read before the others, to set the scene.
- The place
- The era
- The people
The lessons in this chapter
- 1Nine o'clock is noonBefore 1873, nine o'clock meant noon, and the hours ran down to four. The reason is mechanical: three strokes announced the hour, so one, two and three were unusable.10 min
- 2Sunday comes from DutchOld Japan had no week. When one arrived, the colloquial word for Sunday came from Dutch, through the trading post at Nagasaki, and Saturday became half-Sunday.9 min
- 3The calendar the state walked away fromThe Japanese state changed calendar in 1873; the growers did not. They sowed rice on the eighty-eighth day from the beginning of spring, and a count of days tracks the seasons better than a date.9 min
How these lessons are written
Each lesson starts from first-hand sources: Wikisource, Gallica, Persée, archives, museums and institutes. A fact without a source does not get written, and every lesson lists its own as direct links.
The rhythm
A lesson is five minutes of cards and four questions. Those questions then come back the next day, then at 3, 7, 21 and 60 days, and that return is what makes it stick. One a day is enough, and you can do several in a row.