The ryō was a gold currency unit in the shakkanhō system in pre-Meiji Japan. It was eventually replaced with a system based on the yen.
Keichō-period koban with value of one ryō
Japanese units of measurement
Traditional Japanese units of measurement or the shakkanhō (尺貫法) is the traditional system of measurement used by the people of the Japanese archipelago. It is largely based on the Chinese system, which spread to Japan and the rest of the Sinosphere in antiquity. It has remained mostly unaltered since the adoption of the measures of the Tang dynasty in 701. Following the 1868 Meiji Restoration, Imperial Japan adopted the metric system and defined the traditional units in metric terms on the basis of a prototype metre and kilogram. The present values of most Korean and Taiwanese units of measurement derive from these values as well.
A man playing the shakuhachi flute, named after its traditional length of 1 shaku and 8 sun (54.5 cm)
Area floored with 8 tatami mats (4 tsubo, or 8 jō)
A wooden masu sake cup (1 gō) for celebrations
A set of ten traditional Japanese fundō weights, used by money changers to weigh coinage. Top row from left are 30 ryō (1124.66 g), 20 ryō (749.07 g) and 10 ryō (374.62 g, twice), bottom row from left are 3 momme (11.19 g), 1 ryō (37.47 g, twice), 2 ryō (74.89 g), 3 ryō (112.42 g) and 4 ryō (149.77 g). All metric weights actual, not rounded.
