IBARAKI, May 15 (News On Japan) –
Japan’s prototypes of the kilogram and meter, which as soon as served as nationwide requirements for weight and size, have been introduced to the press this week forward of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the Meter Convention, the worldwide treaty that standardized international measurement methods, to be marked on May twentieth.
The prototypes have been replicas of the worldwide requirements housed by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) in Sèvres, France, and have been distributed to member nations of the treaty. Japan obtained its copies in 1890 throughout the Meiji period, formally establishing them as home benchmarks for measurement.
Both the kilogram and meter prototypes at the moment are designated as Important Cultural Properties. While the meter prototype was retired following the adoption of sunshine wavelength because the worldwide commonplace for size, the kilogram prototype continues for use alongside newer definitions primarily based on bodily constants.
Takashi Usuda, Director of the National Metrology Institute of Japan at AIST, acknowledged, “The metric system has supported the world as a ‘universal language’ for determining all things. I hope the 150th anniversary will prompt reflection on its enduring significance.”
The Meter Convention was signed in 1875 by 17 nations with the purpose of standardizing measurement methods throughout nations. Japan joined the treaty in 1885.
Source: 産経ニュース