1952 Kankō Bunka Kyōkai Pictorial View of Mt. Fuji-Hakone National Park, Japan

This is a 1952 Kanko Bunka pictorial bird's-eye view of Mt. Fuji-Hakone National Park - Japan's most popular national park. The map emerged in the final year of the post-WWII occupation and so was part of the movement to re-establish Japanese national identity and sovereignty. Nonetheless, content in both Japanese and English suggests an intended audience that included foreign residents, mostly military personnel, living in Japan.

A Closer Look

The view, drawn at 40 degrees from the plane of the surface as a note at bottom-left explains, covers the coast from Kanbara and Fuji (富士市) to Odawara and Kōzu (towards Yokohama) at right and as far inland as Kōfu. Mt. Fuji towers over the surrounding landscape, which is dotted with lakes and smaller mountains (with elevations). Cities and towns are labeled throughout, along with roads, rail lines, bus routes, administrative boundaries (including the boundaries of the national park), hot springs, and hiking trails (登山ハイキング道路). An inset view of Hakone appears at the top-right. (Hakone is located towards the right on the main map.) An elevation profile is included along the bottom of the sheet, while a grid surrounds the view, corresponding to an index on the inside cover. The verso includes text and photographs discussing the geology, ecology, flora, fauna, human history (such as place names), and activities (including hot springs) related to Mt. Fuji and Mt. Hakone. The inclusion of English in the title and transliterations of Japanese placenames is curious, suggesting a wide audience including U.S. military personnel and advisors along with Japanese tourists.

Hakone and the National Park System in Japan

The national park system in Japan was established during the 1930s. A National Parks Law was passed in 1931 and Hakone was part of the first group of national parks. It was merged with Fuji to create the Fuji-Hakone National Park in 1936, which was later merged (in 1955) with the Izu Islands to create the current Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. Due to their proximity to Tokyo and Yokohama, these parks have been popular since their inception, with urbanites seeking a relaxing day or weekend in the countryside.

Publication History and Census

This view was prepared in 1952 (Showa 27) by the Japan Tourism Culture Association (Nihon Nankō Bunka Kyōkai, 日本観光文化協会). It was illustrated by Matsumoto Yasuo (松本安雄), who drew views for similar guide maps of Nikko and Chichibu published by Kanko Bunka, drawing on information from the Geographical Survey Institute (地理調査所) and local governments. The verso notes that the guide map was sold by the Kasumigaseki Shobō (霞ヶ関書房) bookstore in Tokyo. We note only one cataloged example of this view in institutional collections, which is located at Stanford University.