1930 Osaka Mainichi Shinbun World Map Sugoroku

A rare 1930 Showa 5 Japanese pictorial map of the world and sugoroku game. Centered on Japan, this map covers the entire world with global flights paths are outlined in red. It was issued by the Japanese daily newspaper, Ōsaka Mainichi Shinbun (大阪每日新聞社編). The map proper is surrounded by 52 vignette images illustrating global capitals, countryside, flora, fauna, and culture.

Historically there are two variants of sugoroku, one that is similar to backgammon, and the presently offered 'snakes and ladders' variant. This version of the game appeared as early as the 13th century, and was popularized by the rise of printing technology, especially in the Edo and Meiji periods, and subsequent availability of high-quality visually-arresting game boards. A standard sugoroku board has a starting point, the furi-dashi, and a winding or spiral path terminating at the agari or finish-line. In this case Tokyo is both the the furi-dashi and the agari.

This was issued as a supplement to the 1930 New Year's Day edition of the New Year's Day edition of the Osaka Mainichi Shinbun, no. 16, 755.