1913 Taisho 2 Japanese Map of Oahu, Hawaii w/ defensive positions

A scarce 1913 (Taisho 2) Japanese map of Oahu, Hawaii, illustrating defensive positions. The map appears to have been adapted from an English language map with overprinting in Japanese to illustrate military installations, including Fort Shafter, Diamond Head, and the Schofield Barracks. In addition to the printed texted there are also manuscript updates expanding and revising the information contained with blue pencil markings highlighting Waialua Bay, Waianae Landing, Barper's Point, and Kāneʻohe Bay.

Japanese Ambitions for Hawaii

It is unusual for a Japanese map of Oahu this early to focus on military defenses. Most likely the original publication of the map was as historical document relating to Japanese dissatisfaction with the 1893 overthrow of the pro-Japanese Hawaiian monarchy by American marines and colonists. Fearing that the new government would not respect the rights of Japanese citizens in Hawaii, by then a large part of the population, they dispatched two warships, Naniwa and Takachiho, in a show of strength. When Hawaii was annexed into the United States, in 1898, Japan interoperated the move as an encroachment on Japan's own expansionist interests in the Pacific and potential claims on the strategically positioned archipelago. That the map focuses on American military instillations in Hawaii as early as 1913 illustrates Japanese interest in a military takeover of the island even then.

Pearl Harbor Attack!

The blue pencil annotation highlighting Waialua Bay, Waianae Landing, Barper's Point, and Kāneʻohe Bay was probably added after the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Although Pearl Harbor itself has not been marked, the other areas highlighted were all secondary targets during the infamous air strike.

This map is rare and we have been able to isolate no other examples.