Yes, by far the most interesting part, but WTF? > The typical clock had six numbered hours from nine to four, which counted backwards from noon until midnight;

Yes, by far the most interesting part, but WTF? > The typical clock had six numbered hours from nine to four, which counted backwards from noon until midnight; the hour numbers one, two and three were not used in Japan for religious reasons, because these numbers of strokes were used by Buddhists to call to prayer. The count ran backwards because the earliest Japanese artificial timekeepers used the burning of incense to count down the time. Dawn and dusk were therefore both marked as the sixth hour in the Japanese timekeeping system. In addition to the numbered temporal hours, each hour was assigned a sign from the Japanese zodiac. Starting at dawn, the six daytime hours were: Zodiac symbol Numeral Rabbit 卯 六 6 sunrise Dragon 辰 五 5 morning Snake 巳 四 4 morning Horse 午 九 9 noon Goat 未 八 8 afternoon Monkey 申 七 7 afternoon > From dusk, the six nighttime hours were: Zodiac symbol Numeral Rooster 酉 六 6 sunset Dog 戌 五 5 evening Pig 亥 四 4 evening Rat 子 九 9 midnight Ox 丑 八 8 before dawn Tiger 寅 七 7 before dawn It's weird that there's the daytime and nighttime hours are counted with the same repeating numbers as in 12h time. The page still doesn't explain why the hours are different lengths. Did the incense burn equal lengths at different rates?