1892 Senmasu Wall Map of Japan

An enormous 1892 first-edition wall map of Japan, edited by Senmasu Genzō and published by Morimoto Sensuke. Its impressive size allows for tremendous detail, presenting Japan during the height of the Meiji Era, on the eve of its imperial expansion into Taiwan and Korea.

A Closer Look

The entirety of Japan is presented, with prefectures color-shaded. Within prefectures, administrative borders (districts or cities) are drawn. In the years immediately preceding this map's publication, Japan underwent administrative reforms on the structure and subdivision of prefectures, which may have been the original impetus for this map's issue. In addition to cities and administrative centers, the map is so detailed that villages and even neighborhoods are identified. Railways (existing and planned), roads, lighthouses, temples, shrines, mines, maritime routes (with their distances noted), and other features are indicated according to the symbols explained in the legend at the bottom left.

Several insets surround the main map, including one of Hokkaido and the Kuril Islands at top, and of the Ryukyu Islands (including the Yaeyama Islands 八重山群島 near Taiwan) and the Ogasawara or Bonin Islands at bottom-right. (A portion of Sakhalin / Karafuto appears in the Hokkaido inset, but Japan had relinquished territorial claims to it in the 1875 Treaty of St. Petersburg.) At left are insets comparing Japan's tallest mountains and longest rivers (itself including an inset of major lighthouses throughout Japan, along with their method of illumination, light color, and distance their light was capable of reaching); between them is a comparative display of Japan's largest lakes. At the bottom is an exceptionally thorough table of distances for each prefecture (里程一覽表).

The Japanese Concession at Busan

Tsushima and the southeastern portion of the Korean Peninsula appear at left, including a Japanese concession (日本館) near Busan (釜山). This 87-acre plot was created by an unequal treaty between Japan and Korea in 1876, and by 1880 there were 300 Japanese settlers. It became a wedge for Japanese economic and political influence throughout the Korean Peninsula, which increased in the following decades until Korea was annexed outright by Japan in 1910.

The Height of Meiji Cartographic Art

Stylistically, this map represents the height of the Meiji-era (1868 - 1912) cartographic tradition - wherein western style cartographic standards, lithographic printing, and imported inks, were combined with Ukiyo-e color traditions and aesthetic values. This map falls in a cartographic lineage that began with the Meiji Restoration and continued through about 1895, defined by vivid color (shades of pink, purple, and green) achieved in part by using imported German-made inks. It is also notable for the decorative title cartouche combined with seal script characters for the title itself. Such maps began to fall out of fashion near the turn of the century, when they were supplanted by more reserved printed color.

Publication History and Census

This map was edited by Senmasu Genzō (千桝源蔵), printed and published by Morimoto Sensuke (森本專助), and sold by Matsumura Kyūbei (松村九兵衛) in 1892 (Meiji 25). Little information is available on Senmasu or Morimoto; the present map appears to be Senmasu's only published work, while Morimoto published a handful of works in the mid-late Meiji era. A blue stamp at bottom refers to the Gotō Copperplate Co. (後藤銅版所) of Osaka, though their role in the map's production, if any, is unclear and the stamp appears to be a later addition. Several printings of the map appeared between 1892 and 1903, but the present map is the first edition, differing notably from later ones for lacking Taiwan, which was ceded to Japan in 1895 following the First Sino-Japanese War. Rare in any edition, only the National Diet Library holds this first edition of the map, while later editions are also held by the NDL and the National Archives of Japan.