National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

This is a ruler made of ivory dyed in red with a pattern carved using a pachiru technique (flipping carving technique for ivory). The upper part of the surface is divided into five sections, where patterns of precious flowers and mandarin ducks are placed alternately. The mandarin duck pattern is also applied to the lower half. Moreover, the mandarin duck and floral patterns are also applied to the back of the ruler. Although this resembles Koge Bachiru no Shaku, one of the treasures of Shosoin, this one seems to have been created in Japan by following the example of rulers brought into Japan from abroad, since the carving techniques used here look slightly simpler than those seen on the treasure of Shosoin. The length of the ruler corresponds to the standard value of the tenpyo-jaku, a common scale used at that time.