Shimizu Tsunetaro (sold) (清水常太郎)
Shimizu Tsunetaro (清水常太郎; fl. c. 1892 - 1905) was a Japanese cartographer active in the 1890s based in Kyoto and Osaka. Little else is known about his life and work. His maps coincided with Japan's imperial expansion, focusing on Taiwan, Korea, and China, though he also produced maps of Japanese cities such as Nagasaki and Saga.
AKA: 清水常太郎
Diplomatic ploy that may have contributed the Qing cession of Taiwan/Formosa to Japan.
Detailed Map of Taiwan Field Survey. / 實地踏測台灣詳密地圖
sold
- Digital Map Information
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- File Size: 63.22 MB
- File Type: ZIP / TIFF
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This 1895 Nakamura Yoshimatsu map of Taiwan is one of the most unsung but influential examples of persuasive cartography ever published. The large-scale map of Taiwan appeared at the end of the First Sino-Japanese War (August 1, 1894 - April 17, 1895), just prior to the Treaty of Shimonoseki (April 17, 1895) and the Japanese invasion of Taiwan (May 29, 1895 - October 21, 1895). The map, attributed to a likely fictional British naval officer named John Waters, employs creative cartography to reshape Taiwan, while retaining the overall area, effectivley reducing the size of Qing controlled Formosa and increasing the size of the ungoverned 'savage zones' - a ploy that played into the Japanese position that the Qing did not truly possess the island. It was likely presented at the Shimonoseki negotiations, where the Japanese were able to take advantage of Qing China's infamous lack of cartographic knowledge about Formosa to formally seize the island. (more details)