1937 Kintosuke Map of Beijing Issued after the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin

A rare 1937 map of Beijing (北京) issued following the Battle of Beijing (Battle of Beiping-Tianjin) and the Peiking-Tientsin Operation, or as the Japanese know it, the North China Incident. The main map covers Beijing in impressive detail, focusing on the Imperial City, Tartar or Inner City, and the central part of the Outer City, roughly between the Xibianmen and Dongbinamen gates. Throughout, the map names streets, hutongs, tramways, and neighborhoods. A smaller secondary map of Tianjin / Tientsin (天津市) appears in the lower left quadrant. Both cities were associated with the events of the Battle of Beiping-Tianjin.

Battle of Beiping-Tianjin

Battle of Beiping-Tianjin (Early July - early August 1937) refers to a series of battles in the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937 - 1945) fought in July and August of 1937 between the KMT Nationalist Army, under Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正; 1887 - 1975), Song Zheyuan (宋哲元; 1885 - 1940), and Liu Ruzhen, and Imperial Japanese forces led by Masakazu Kawabe (河辺 正三, 1886 - 1965). The events leading up to the battle were largely fabricated by the Japanese, who forced the confrontations as an excuse to invade Northern China. A series of battles including the Langfang Incident, and the Tungchow Incident, ultimately led to the fall of Tianjin on July 29th, and the subsequent fall of Beijing on August 8th.

Publication History and Census

This map was printed on December 15, 1937 (Showa 12), and released in January of 1938 (Showa 13). The mapmaker is Kintosuke (金東弼), the publisher (飯尾耕㔻), and the printer Shiseido (至誠堂). We have not been able to isolate any other examples.