1894 Nakamura Map of Kyoto, Japan

A scarce, colorful 1894 map of Kyoto, Japan, reflecting the city's past imperial splendor and partial modernization, edited by Kamisaka Yoshishige and published by Tanaka Jihei and Nakamura Asakichi. At this time, Kyoto had lost a degree of its cultural prestige with the relocation of the emperor to Tokyo in 1868, but it remained an important city and popular destination for tourists due to its temples, shrines, and castles.

A Closer Look

Oriented towards the east, with north at left, the map takes in Kyoto proper, surrounded by rivers and canals, as well as districts of the surrounding Yamashiro Province. The city's many shrines, temples, castles, and other landmarks are indicated in remarkable detail, including Nijō Castle (離宮旧二条城) towards center-bottom and the Imperial Palace (here as 禁裏御所) to its northeast (towards top-left). An index towards bottom-right gives the distances of various points throughout the city from the Sanjō Ōhashi Bridge (三條大橋). A legend explains the color-coding system used outside of the city proper to denote names of districts (郡), villages (村), and religious sites (within the city, color shading is used more haphazardly for aesthetic purposes and for distinguishing neighborhoods), along with signs for natural features, railroads, post offices, schools, and administrative borders. An extensive list of primary schools in the city is provided to the left of the legend (primary education having become compulsory in principle in 1872, and in practice in 1886).

This work resembles maps of Kyoto from the Edo period, often sold to tourists and religious pilgrims visiting from the surrounding countryside and beyond. But signs of changes brought by the Meiji Restoration (discussed below) are also evident, such as the railway and station towards top-right (the latter using a kana transliteration of the English word 'station' rather than the kanji character 駅), and the hospital (療病院) and medical school (医学校) to the east of the Imperial Palace.

Recovery from Restoration

This map was produced during the Meiji period, named for the Meiji Emperor, who had resided in Kyoto in his youth as earlier emperors had done for centuries. However, after having cast his lot with samurai rebelling against the Tokugawa Shogunate, the emperor was 'restored' to a position of political prominence after centuries of occupying a mostly ceremonial role. The opening act of the Meiji Restoration was the procession of the emperor himself from Kyoto to Edo (renamed Tokyo) to occupy the palace of the deposed Tokugawa. This move made Tokyo the undisputed political, economic, and cultural center of Japan, and Kyoto's prestige and wealth decreased in relative terms as a result (notably, several important sites here are labeled as 'former' 旧, reflecting their changed status). But it remained one of the larger cities in Japan and a draw for tourists and pilgrims. It also saw its share of modernization projects, including a railway and canal leading from Lake Biwa (琵琶湖), seen at top in the distance.

Publication History and Census

This map was edited by Kamisaka Yoshishige (神阪吉重) and 'reissued' by Tanaka Jihei (田中治兵衛) and Nakamura Asakichi (中村淺吉) in January 1894 (Meiji 27). The phrase 'reissued' (再版) refers to the multiple printings of this map, all quite rare now, between 1885 and 1894. The various printings either list Kamasika or Kondō Tajūrō (近藤太十郎) as editor, but the exact distinction is unclear, as a printing listing Kondō as editor was issued in 1894, the same year as the present map. As a side note, it is worth pointing out the division of the map's creators into 'gentlemen' (士族) and 'commoners' (平民), a remnant of previously rigid social distinctions that were disappearing at this time.

Regardless of printing, the map is only held by a handful of institutions in Japan and the United States. An example dated 1894 with Kondō as editor is held by the National Diet Library, while the present printing with Kamisaka as editor is not known to exist in any institutional collections.