Koku

The koku (石^?) is a Japanese unit of volume, equal to ten cubic shaku. In this definition, 3.5937 koku equal one cubic metre, i.e. 1 koku is approximately 278.3 litres. The koku was originally defined as a quantity of rice, historically defined as enough rice to feed one person for one year (one masu is enough rice to feed a person for one day). A koku of rice weighs about 150 kilograms (23.6 stone or 330 pounds).

In 1891, a smaller koku was defined such that one koku equalled exactly ²⁴⁰¹⁰⁰⁄₁₃₃₁ litres, which is approximately 180.39 litres, or about 5 bushels (40 imperial or 48 US gallons).

Under the Tokugawa shogunate of the Edo period (1603–1868) of Japanese history, each feudal domain had an assessment of its potential income known as kokudaka which in part determined its order of precedence at the Shogunal court. The smallest kokudaka to qualify the fief-holder for the title of daimyo was 10,000 koku and Kaga han, the largest (other than that of the shogun), was called the "million-koku domain". (Its holdings totaled around 1,025,000 koku.) Many samurai, including hatamoto, received stipends in koku, while a few received salaries instead. In the Tōhoku and Hokkaidō domains, where rice could not be grown, the economy was still measured in terms of koku, with other crops and produce converted to their equivalent value in terms of rice. <ref name= Beasley>Beasley, William G (1972). The Meiji Restoration. ISBN 0804708150: Stamford University Press. , p. 14-15.</ref> The kokudaka was not adjusted from year to year, and thus some fiefs had larger economies than their nominal koku indicated due to land reclamation and new rice field development, which allowed them to fund development projects.

Kokū

Kokū (虚空) or Koku is a honkyoku, a solo "original piece" of Japanese Buddhist origin for the shakuhachi, a bamboo flute. The title "Kokū" is often translated as "empty sky".

According to legend , "Kokū" is one of the three original shakuhachi pieces, along with "Mukaiji" and "Kyorei". It was composed by Kyochiku, the Zen priest who founded the Myoan temple in Kyoto, Japan in the 13th century. Kyochiku fell asleep while practicing shakuhachi inside the temple at Ise, Mie and upon awakening, transcribed the sounds in his dream into the three pieces "Kokū", "Kyorei", and "Mukaiji".

"Kokū" has been recorded by many shakuhachi artists, including Watazumi Doso, Yokoyama Katsuya, Nishimura Koku, Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin, Okuda Atsuya, Phil Nyokai James and Alcvin Takegawa Ramos.

See also

External links

KOKU

KOKU (100.3 FM) – branded as Hit Radio 100 – is a commercial contemporary hit radio (CHR) radio station licensed to Hagåtña, Guam. It is owned and operated by Moy Communications Inc.

As on October 2, 2012 KOKU has a new sister station as KMOY, which has hot adult contemporary as "Cool FM 92.7".

External links

Leif

Leif is a male given name of Scandinavian origin. It is derived from the Old Norse name Leifr (nominative case), meaning "heir", "descendant", "beloved", "lucky".

Use in the Nordic countries

Spelling and prevalence

Across the Nordic countries, the most commonly occurring spelling of the name is Leif, however, there are some well-established regional variants:

 Norway – Leiv

 Denmark – Lejf

 Iceland – Leifur [ˈleɪvʏr̥]

 Faroe Islands – Leivur [ˈlaɪvʊɹ]

In Norway, about 17,000 men have Leif as their first (or only) name. In Sweden, 70,000 men have the name Leif, about 60% of them as a first name. As of 2008, about 18,000 Danish men have Leif as their first name. In Finland, as of 2012, 4,628 men have Leif as a first name. In U.S, as of 2015, 6,415 men have Leif as a first name.

Although common in the Nordic countries, the name Leif has declined in use since the 1950s. Because of this, the name has become associated with an older generation throughout the region.

Pronunciation

Because the Scandinavian languages differ in their pronunciation of the digraphs ⟨ei⟩ and ⟨ej⟩, the name Leif may be either pronounced approximately like the English word "life", or as an approximate rhyme for "safe". In Denmark, much of Norway, and the southern and western regions of the Faroe Islands the name is pronounced more like "life", while in Sweden, Finland, Iceland and Western Norway it is an approximate rhyme with "safe". The only exception to this pattern is in the northern and eastern regions of the Faroe Islands where it is an approximate rhyme with the English word "coif". In no region is the name pronounced like the most commonly heard English pronunciation, "leaf", as that would be a homophone of the unrelated female name Liv/Lif.

Leif (film)

Leif is a 1987 Swedish comedy film directed by Claes Eriksson and the first to star the members of Galenskaparna och After Shave.

Plot

Gunnar Volt (Anders Eriksson), the head of the weapons factory Kanoner & Krut ("Cannons & Gunpowder") in the small community of Rotum plans for the upcoming demonstration of a new weapon called "The Fighting Egg". However, this is interrupted by an article in the local newspaper where the signature Leif claims that the company engaged in the illegal arms trade. The name Rotum spelled backwards is mutor, which is the Swedish word for bribes. When Inspector Mård (Peter Rangmar) and his assistant Nilsson (Jan Rippe), two police officers from Stockholm, comes to the town hell breaks out. At the same time two Iranians arrives to the office to close a deal, when the police knocks at the door. Volt, the deputy directors Max Kroger (Claes Eriksson) and Rambo (Knut Agnred) flees through the window with the Iranians. After stealing some clothes they head to Volt's brother Håkan (Per Fritzell), which operates in the entertainment industry.

Le1f

Khalif Diouf, known by his stage name Le1f (/liːf/), is an American rapper and producer from New York City. He runs the hip hop label Camp & Street, a subsidiary of Greedhead Music. As a gay rapper he's garnered attention for his unique and subversive musical and performance styles. Following a series of well-received mixtapes and EPs, his debut studio album Riot Boi was released in November 2015.

Biography

Born in Manhattan, New York, Diouf studied ballet and modern dance, attended the Concord Academy with the class of 2007 and earned his degree in dance from Wesleyan University before returning to the city to become a rapper.

Career

Initially known for producing tracks for hip-hop group Das Racist, such as their popular debut single "Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell", he became known as a solo artist with the release of his debut mixtape Dark York, released in April 2012. Its lead single, the 5kinAndBone5-produced "Wut" garnered attention as the standout track from the project and manifested into a music video in June 2012.