Illustrated maps on public display in Japan: Geography and artistic tradition

Abstract

Japan has a plenitude of maps on display to the public. Some of them are utilitarian "land diagrams" that have been designed simply to help people find places, but others also serve as advertisements or explanations and have pictorial embellishments. Six examples of the former and twelve of the latter are reproduced and commented on in this study, which aims to explain the artistic side of such maps by categorizing the types of illustrations (abstract symbols, symbolic resemblances, idealized portraits, realistic portraits, and cartoon characters) and to establish links between the contemporary embellished maps and Japanese maps from the past, as well as to styles of pictorial art that have flourished in the history of Japanese art.