1890 Ishijima Plan of Tokyo, Japan

This is an 1890 folding survey map of Tokyo, Japan, by Ishijima Yae and Yamanaka Yoshisaburō. Its primary purpose is to highlight recent administrative changes in Tokyo, namely the creation of Tokyo Municipality (東京市), composed of 15 wards (區) within the larger Tokyo Prefecture (東京府).

Mapping the Metropolis

This map is oriented roughly towards the north with the imperial palace at center. The newly arranged wards of Tokyo are color-coded, with exceptions (uncolored areas) for lands used by the military and larger possessions of the imperial family, some of which had recently been turned into public parks.

The legend at top-right includes symbols and designations for parks, roads (divided into four levels depending on width), telegraph offices, train lines, vegetable and fish markets, wharves, villages and cultivated areas, dikes, and fenced areas. At bottom-right is a table of distances between Nihonbashi (the traditional center of Edo/Tokyo) and various points throughout the city.

One atypical feature of this map is the inclusion of seven islands (一番, 二番, and so on) in Tokyo Bay, as well as the larger island of Ishikawajima (石川島) to their northeast. These were artificial islands built through land reclamation at the end of the Edo Period (Bakumatsu). Following their unpleasant experience with Commodore Perry's 'black ships' in 1853 - 1854, the Tokugawa Shogunate rapidly tried to adapt to the reality of foreign military threats. The seven islands were meant to house gun batteries (台場), though not all of them were completed, while Ishikawajima became a shipyard. In 1928, the islands were turned into public parks, and in the 1990s were connected to each other with more reclaimed land to form the large island of Odaiba (お台場).

One of the more obvious and curious features of the map is a rail line running between Shimbashi Station and Ueno Station (Tokyo's two railway stations at the time), with a branch line making a wide detour into Asakusa (浅草). This was the Tokyo Horse Railway (東京馬車鉄道), which filled the need for a link between the two rail stations, as well as between the traditional core of Edo and the booming areas to the northeast. This was the first horse-drawn railway in Japan and is claimed by some to be the first private railway of any sort in Japan. Despite being extremely popular, the Tokyo Horse Railway employed so many horses that their excrement became an overwhelming problem along the train's route, adding impetus to electrification in the early 20th century, resulting in the birth of the Tokyo Electric Railway (or Tōden, 東電).

Comparison with the Previous Edition

The present map can be fruitfully compared to an 1889 map with a slightly different title by Ishijima and Yamanaka (previously sold by us as Tokyo-ishijima-1889). Although superficially similar, there are important differences. The most obvious are the scope, with the larger 1889 edition covering a broader territory incorporating the hinterland of the growing capital. As mentioned, the titles of the maps also differ, though both reference the recent administrative changes. Also, the location and content of the legend differs and the present map includes the table of distances mentioned above.

Noteworthy here is the notation of the 'temporary imperial palace' (假皇居) along with government offices in the blank space towards left, which only recorded the government offices in the 1889 edition. Several smaller changes are apparent upon closer inspection, such as the army depot (陸軍倉庫) along the Sumida River here that is not present on the 1889 edition. Similarly, at the bottom to the right of the compass is a piece of land sticking out into the bay labeled 'military training ground' (練兵場) that is noted much more discreetly in the previous edition. However, near the same spot, the 1889 edition includes a shipyard (造船所) on the western edge of the village Ishikoda Shinden (石小田新田), which is not seen here.

An Imperial Capital

Tokyo and several other Japanese cities went through a dizzying period of administrative reforms during the Meiji Era, due to the pace of their growth as well as changing bureaucratic practices and conceptions of governance. Initially, elements of the Tokugawa system of wards were maintained to appease elites who feared more rapid reforms. Then, in 1871 - 1872, Tokyo Prefecture was expanded, and a system of 'large and small wards' (大區小區制) was put into place.

Further adjustments were made in the following years, and a wholesale reorganization was launched in 1888 - 1889, where the central government tried to administer Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto more directly while also eliminating the lowest level of administration, the neighborhood. The central administration of Tokyo was unpopular and abolished a decade later, but several important changes endured until World War II, including the election of a city council and ward assemblies. These changes kept the printers and publishers of Tokyo busy, as each round of administrative reform required updated maps.

Meiji Era Tokyo

With the Meiji Restoration in 1868, the Tokugawa were displaced from Edo, and Emperor Meiji moved the imperial capital from Kyoto to Edo (renamed Tokyo, 'eastern capital'). The Meiji era was a period of tremendous change in Japan, particularly in cities, and in Tokyo more than any other. Most of the daimyo from throughout Japan who had maintained residences in Edo left with their families, significantly reducing the population and wealth of the city. At the same time, new ideas, technologies, and fashions from abroad were sought out and adopted with incredible rapidity and, in the process, were localized to suit Japanese tastes.

Building on the foundations of Tokugawa Edo, Meiji-era Tokyo intermingled traditional architecture with styles reminiscent of Victorian London. Much of Tokyo as it exists here would be destroyed in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and resulting fire.

The Height of Meiji Cartographic Art

Stylistically, this map represents the height of the Meiji-era (1868 - 1912) cartographic tradition - wherein western style cartographic standards, lithographic printing, and imported inks, were combined with Ukiyo-e color traditions and aesthetic values. This map falls in a cartographic lineage that begins with the Meiji Restoration and continued through about 1895. Here, the boldly bright palette likely associates this map with aka-e (赤絵; 'red pictures'), illustrations in vivid color achieved through imported German-made inks. Such maps began to fall out of fashion near the turn of the century, when they were supplanted by more reserved printed color.

Publication History and Census

This map was designed and published by Ishijima Yae (石嵨八重), while Yamanaka Yoshisaburō (山中善三朗) engraved and printed it. It was published on March 3, 1890 (Meiji 23). The cover indicates that the map was sold at the Nishobō (二書房) bookshop. As mentioned above, we have previously sold an 1889 edition of the same map, which differs in some important respects from the current map. The 1890 edition appears to be even scarcer than the already-rare 1889 edition, and is not recorded among the holdings of any institutional collections. Due to the urban growth and administrative changes in Tokyo in the Meiji era, similarly titled maps exist from the same period (such as 改正東京測量全圖, 明治改正東京全圖, 改正新鐫東亰實測全圖, 東亰實測全圖 市區改正, and 東京市區改正縮圖, all very rare), but they are distinct from Ishijima and Yamanaka's map. The Nichibunken holds an 1895/Meiji 28 map (YG/7/GC67/To) with the same title but a different maker (Aota Kyūjirō 粟生田久次郎) and radically different appearance.