Museo Galileo
italiano
Virtual Museum
In-depth
Toki

Before 1873, the Japanese measured time by means of the seasonal system of unequal (or temporal) hours, dividing the day into two periods, from dawn to dusk and vice versa. Each period was subdivided into six parts called toki. Only at the equinoxes, when day and night are of equal length, did the diurnal and nocturnal toki have an identical length, equivalent to two Western hours.

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