A Clock inspired by Hisashige Tanaka, a Japanese rangaku scholar (Part 1) | by Amin Atashnezhad | CodeX | Nov, 2021

Hisashige Tanaka clock tallies the time using a temporal time system which is distinctive to Japan. Daytime and nighttime are divided into 6 parts. The absolute length of part changes depending on the season. During the summer, the length of the day is longer than the night and therefore day time segments are longer. The hours of the clock expand and contract depending on the day of the year.

The new clock design would be a little bit different. A circular clock, with 24 indexes that are representative for 24 hours. The top half of the clock is representative of day and the bottom is representative of night. The point (-1,0) and (1,0) are representatives for sunshine and sunset correspondingly.

The indexes should be able to move to show the hours which are changing based on the season. The hour indexes are not positioned at the center but they are offset. The hour’s indexes expand and contract depending on the day of the year and the season (clock position and location on earth, altitude, and amplitude). During the summer, more indexes show up at the top side of the clock. The opposite is correct during the winter. The clock simulation positioned for STILLWATER, OK, USA is seen below.

The clock primary design benefits from micro-computers and can demonstrate dynamic behaviors. In the following, a demo is provided (combination of python programming and multiprocessing library).