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Theken (Japanese:間) is atraditional Japanese unit of length, equal to sixshaku ('Japanese feet'). The exact value has varied over time and location but has generally been a little shorter than 2 meters (6 ft 7 in).^[1][2] It is now standardized as 1.82m.^[3]

Although mostly supplanted by themetric system, this unit is a common measurement inJapanese architecture, where it is used as a proportion for the intervals between thepillars of traditional-style buildings. In this context, it is commonly translated as "bay". The length also appears in other contexts, such as the standard length of thebō staff inJapanese martial arts and the standard dimensions of thetatami mats. As these are used to cover the floors of most Japanese houses, floor surfaces are still commonly measured not in square meters but in "tatami" which are equivalent to half of a square ken.

AmongEnglish loanwords of Japanese origin, bothken andma are derived from readings of the same character間.

Thiskanji graphically combines門 "door" and日 "sun". The earliervariant character閒 was written with月 "moon" rather than "sun", depicting "A門 door through the crevice of which the月 moonshine peeps in".^[4]

The diverse Japanese pronunciations of間 includeon'yomi Sino-Chinese readings (fromjian間 or间 "room; between; gap; interval") ofkan "interval; space; between; among; discord; favorable opportunity" orken "six feet"; andkun'yomi native Japanese readings ofai "interval; between; medium; crossbred",aida orawai "space; interval; gap; between; among; midway; on the way; distance; time; period; relationship", orma "space; room; interval; pause; rest (in music); time; a while; leisure; luck; timing; harmony".^[5]

Theken is based on the Chinesejian. It uses the same Chinese character as the Koreankan.

A building's proportions were (and, to a certain extent, still are) measured inken, as for example in the case ofEnryaku-ji'sKonponchū-dō (Main Hall), which measures 11×6 bays (37.60 m × 23.92 m), of which 11×4 are dedicated to the worshipers. Inside buildings, available space was often divided in squares measuring oneken across, and each square was then called ama (間), the term written with the same Chinese character asken.^[1] Traditional buildings usually measure an odd number of bays, for example 3×3 or 5×5. A type of temple's gate calledrōmon can have dimensions going from 5×2 bays to the more common 3×2 bays down to even 1×1 bay.^[6] TheZenbutsuden in the illustration measures 5×5ken across externally because its 3×3ken core (moya) is surrounded by a 1-ken aisle calledhisashi.

The value of aken could change from building to building, but was usually kept constant within the same structure. There can however be exceptions.Kasuga Taisha's tinyhonden's dimensions, for example, are 1×1 inken, but 1.9×2.6 in meters.^[1] In the case ofIzumo Taisha'shonden, aken is 6.32 m (20.7 ft), well above its standard value.^[7]

The distance between pillars was standardized very early and started being used as a unit of measurement. Land area in particular was measured using theken as a basis. The unit was born out of the necessity to measure land surface to calculate taxes. At the time ofToyotomi Hideyoshi (16th century), theken was about 1.97 m (6.5 ft), but around 1650 theTokugawa shogunate reduced it to 1.818 m (5.96 ft) specifically to increase taxes. After the Edo period, theken started to be calledkyōma (京間).^[1][2]

• Japanese Art Net User System (JAANUS) Dictionary of Japanese Architectural and Art Historical Terminology, articlesKasuga-zukuri,Ken andKondō. Accessed on May 6, 2009
• IwanamiKōjien (広辞苑) Japanese dictionary, 6th Edition (2008), DVD version

• Japanese architectural features
• Units of length
• East Asian units of measurement

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