坪 means “tsubo (about 3.3 square meters)”

つぼ · tsubo

Also: two-mat area, approx. thirty-six sq ft

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

つぼ

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

ヘイ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 8 strokes

The story

Earth (土) laid flat (平): a measured patch of ground. 坪 is the tsubo, about two tatami mats or 3.3 square meters, and people still talk about land and homes in it: 坪単価 is the price per tsubo.

Used in 坪 (tsubo, tsubo), 坪単価 (tsubotanka, price per tsubo), and 建坪 (tatetsubo, building area)

More from Old Measures

• 厘 rin
• 乙 second
• 斗 dipper
• 尺 shaku
• 升 sho (about 1.8 liters)
• 畝 ridge (in a field)
• 壱 one (formal)
• 弐 two (formal)
• 丙 third (in a series)
• 斤 axe
• 箇 item
• 第 number (ordinal prefix)

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.