1943 or Showa 18 Japanese Coprosperity Sphere Map of Hawaii

This is a rare 1943 Showa 18 map Japanese World War II (WWII) map of Hawaii from the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere series. The map details the major Hawaiian Islands with an inset of Honolulu and Pearl Harbor, and other detailing the farther Hawaiian Islands. Oceanic Depths are illustrated with blue shading. Flight and shipping routes appear in red. The inclusion of the map in the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere series implies that the Japanese held imperial ambitions for the archipelago.

This map was issued as part of a 20 map series known as the Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亜共栄圏). It was an imperial concept created and promulgated for occupied Asian populations during 1930-45 by the Empire of Japan. The concept was announced by Hachirō Arita on June 29, 1940. The Co-Prosperity Sphere was intended as a self-sufficient 'bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers.' It covered Southeast Asia, Eastern China, Manchuria, Japan, the East India Islands, and parts of Oceania. The idea promoted the cultural and economic unity East Asians, Southeast Asians, and Oceanians. That Hawaii is included in this map series addresses the claims the Japanese believed they had to the archipelago.

The Co-Prosperity Sphere map series was published by the Japan Publishing and Distribution Company, Ltd. (日本出版配給株式會社). The present example is the second 1943 edition.