1878 Yamada / Takahara Map of North America

A colorful 1878 (Meiji 11) Japanese map of North America by Yamada Shintarō and Takahara Tetsuya. It reflects the distribution of geographic knowledge from abroad in the early Meiji period, and more specifically the development of popular geographical knowledge.

A Closer Look

Coverage includes the United States, Mexico, the Canadas and other British territories in North America, Central America, and much of the Caribbean. At the margins, portions of South America, Greenland, and Russia also appear. Territories are colored differently to easily distinguish them. Major cities, mountain ranges, and river systems are labelled. In the United States, both states and territories are indicated, with an undivided Dakota Territory notable.

As the title indicates, this map is a translation of a foreign map, or maps, rather. An explanatory note at left lists two main influences, Samuel Augustus Mitchell's (ミヅチル氏) New School Atlas and (Sarah S.) Cornell's (コルネル氏) Companion Atlas. These atlases, meant for schoolchildren, might appear an odd information base when there were more comprehensive maps available in other atlases, but the present map and others in its series were also intended for schoolchildren. A box at left indicates that the present map was published specifically for the Gifu Normal School (岐阜師範学校).

Bringing the World to the Japanese Masses

Although foreign geographical knowledge was available to intellectuals well before the Meiji Restoration, the dissemination of such knowledge to the masses was one part of comprehensive education reforms in the early Meiji period, which included compulsory primary education. Aside from achieving very high levels of literacy, this agenda also allowed the new government to instill civic virtues, national identity, and veneration, if not outright worship, of the imperial family, in the children of Japan.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Yamada Shintarō (山田申太郎) and Takahara Tetsuya (高原徹也), drawn by Noda Tatsusuke (野田達助), edited by Hihara Shōzō (日原昌造), and published in January 1878 (Meiji 11) by Okayasu Keisuke (岡安慶介) for the Gifu Normal School (岐阜師範学校). It was part of a series of six maps (all titled 萬國地誌畧諳射譯圖 / Translated Topographical Maps of the World followed by a number), forming a comprehensive world geography for schoolchildren. This map is not independently cataloged at any institution, though the OCLC lists an 1880 edition with a different publisher among the holdings of the National Diet Library, while the entire series (1878 edition) is held by the NDL, the Nichibunken (International Research Center for Japanese Studies), and Bukkyo University.