1876 (Meiji 9) Ichikawa Raijirō World Map - on Scroll

This is a scarce 1876 (Meiji 9) Ichikawa Raijirō world map. A distinctive product of the early Meiji period, the map scrupulously includes not only geographic information but also reference material from a range of related sciences.

Cataloging the World

The information contained here is so abundant that the map serves as an atlas and almanac together on one scroll. At top-left is a legend indicating symbols for geographic and maritime features, railways, and telegraph lines. At top-center, just below the title, is a banner showing the various flags of the Japanese military forces, the imperial family, the merchant fleet, and so on.

Along the top of the map are a set of insets detailing major Japanese ports (Niigata, Yokohama and Tokyo, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Hakodate). At the bottom of the map, another set of inset maps depict (from left to right): Egypt. Southampton, the Cape of Good Hope, Singapore, the Sunda Strait (between Java and Sumatra), the Pearl River Delta, Shanghai, Port Philip (Melbourne), Honolulu, New York City, Panama, San Francisco, and Rio de Janeiro.

The Map Itself

The map itself demonstrates a high degree of accuracy, even more than many later world maps of the Meiji era. One distinctive feature is the blue ink used in the northern hemisphere to show the extent of ice cover. Also worth noting is the placing of Japan at the center of the map both horizontally and vertically, shrinking the southern hemisphere in order to do so.

Below the map are a whole series of insets covering a wide range of fields, including illustrations and maps of major world cities, the flags of various nations, a map comparing the lengths of major world rivers, a diagram comparing the height of the world's tallest mountains, a table noting the distance of various countries from Tokyo in Japanese ri (里), an illustration to exhibit geographic terminology, and much more.

Japan Branching Out Into the World

This map was produced during a period when Japan had already launched a dramatic modernization drive and was engaging more in the affairs of the world. Many of the reforms of the early Meiji period were deeply unpopular, but most elites recognized that the old ways could not persist if Japan were to escape the hegemony of Western powers. In order to learn as much as possible as quickly as possible, students and study groups were sent abroad by the government while information from abroad was imported and translated for domestic consumption. While Japan had not been entirely closed off during the Tokugawa era, as is often assumed, the early Meiji era still represented an accelerated crash course in the latest methods and knowledge from abroad in all manner of sciences, including cartography, geography, and navigation.

In another sign of recent changes, the publication information not only notes the year of the Meiji Emperor's reign but also the imperial kōki year (2536), a calendrical system that was hardly used before the Meiji Restoration.

Meiji Cartographic Art

Stylistically, this map represents an example of the distinctive 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 in 1868 and continued through about 1895. The new style was often employed by upstart printers like Ichikawa and Yamanaka seeking to unseat long-established printing houses. 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 published on October 24, 1876 (Meiji 9), having been edited by Ichikawa Raijirō (市川来次郎) and published by Yamanaka Ichibē (山中市兵衛). From the rare explanatory note about the map's publication, it appears that Ichikawa compiled a team of cartographers and researchers to work on this map, which is likely why he ultimately is listed as an 'editor.' It is worth noting that Ichikawa was also involved in the production of a similarly titled map in 1889 (新訂萬國地圖) by a different publisher.

This map is held by the University of California Berkeley, Yale University and the National Institute of Humanities in Japan (though their edition is dated 1877, Meiji 10, suggesting that it may have been reprinted), and is scarce to the market.