Seiko Institute of Horology / What is the temporal time method ?
The Seiko Institute of Horology (now The Seiko Museum) was opened in 1981 as part of a project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of Seiko. The museum displays research materials related to time and timepieces produced in Japan and other countries around the world. (For more information, see the February 2009 issue of the PR magazine pla-topia.) http://museum.seiko.co.jp/
During the Edo Period, Japan adopted the temporal time method , in which the time from sunrise to sunset, and the time from sunset to sunrise, were each divided into six equal durations. Differing from the current Equinoctial time method in which one day is divided into 24 hours of equal duration, because daytime and nighttime lengths differed depending on the season??the unit hour also ended up being different ??However??for people without watches and clocks??because the time could be known from the height of the sun, it appears as if this method was on the contrary convenient.
