There is a kobanashi (funny story) in early Edo period that Great Buddha statue of Nara and kujira (whale) of Tosa Province argued who was bigger; in the end, 'the kujira, for the kujira-jaku, was 2 sun longer than the kane, for the kane-jaku' (kane are the generic terms of metals, thus it means the Great Buddha statue in this case).
江戸時代初期の小噺に、奈良の大仏と土佐の鯨とが、どちらが大きいかで言い争いとなり、最後に「金（曲尺）より鯨（鯨尺）の方が二寸長い」というオチになるというものがある。