|
The earliest known term used for maps in Japan is believed to be ''kata'' (形, roughly "form"), which was probably in use until roughly the 8th century. During the Nara period, the term ''zu'' (図) came into use, but the term most widely used and associated with maps in pre-modern Japan is ''ezu'' (絵図, roughly “picture diagram”). As the term implies, ''ezu'' were not necessarily geographically accurate depictions of physical landscape, as is generally associated with maps in modern times, but pictorial images, often including spiritual landscape in addition to physical geography. ''Ezu'' often focused on the conveyance of relative information as opposed to adherence to visible contour. For example, an ''ezu'' of a temple may include surrounding scenery and clouds to give an impression of nature, human figures to give a sense of how the depicted space is used, and a scale in which more important buildings may appear bigger than less important ones, regardless of actual physical size. In the late 18th century, Dutch translators in Nagasaki translated the word ''kaart'' (“map” in Dutch) as ''chizu'' (地図, now the generally accepted translation for “map”) into Japanese. From 1800 (''Kansei 12'') through 1821 (''Bunsei 4''), Ino Tadataka led a government-sponsored topographic surveying and map-making project. This is considered the first modern geographer's survey of Japan;〔Ogawa, Florence. (1997). "Ino Tadataka, les premiers pas de la geographie moderne au Japon," ( ''Ebisu,'' Vol. 16 ), pp. 95-119.〕 and the map based on this survey became widely known as the ''Ino-zu''. Later, the Meiji government officially began using the Japanese term ''chizu'' in the education system, solidifying the place of the term ''chizu'' for "map" in Japanese. ==Overview== Generally speaking, traditional Japanese maps were quite diverse in style, depiction, and purpose, and were often oriented towards pragmatic use. It was less common for maps to serve literary or decorative purposes as they might in the West, instead being used for purposes such as the differentiation of rice fields on a feudal manor, or orientation within a temple complex. An example might be an Edo era pilgrimage map depicting the route and location of lodges on the road between Kyoto and Edo, including images of people on the road, with distances between stops differentiated not by relative distance, but by numerical markings, as scale as it is recognized in the West today was not generally used. This compression and expansion of space as necessary to emphasize certain qualities of the depicted area is an important characteristic of traditional Japanese maps, as is the regular inclusion of text, as text and image were not separated in Japan nearly to the same degree as in the West. Perspective on traditional Japanese maps can also be confusing to the modern Western viewer, as maps were often designed to be viewed from multiple points of view simultaneously, since maps were often viewed on the floor while the viewers sat around the map in a circle. Accordingly, many maps do not have a unified orientation scheme (such as North as up), with labels sometimes appearing skewed to each other. Much of the fundamental concepts of space as depicted in Japanese maps can be traced to Chinese geomancy and Buddhist cosmologies, which came to Japan in the 7th and 8th centuries. Buddhist cosmologies depict the world as it was thought to exist within the appropriate religious framework, often including mythical sites such as the navel of the world and lands beyond the sea inhabited by monsters. In this sense, world maps based on Buddhist cosmology often bear little resemblance to the "real world", though many have at least approximately accurate depictions of Japan, Korea, China, and India. Chinese geomancy brought orientation and a regular grid system, as is evidenced in the street plan of Kyoto, which is based on the plan of the ancient Chinese capital of Chang'an. North-South orientation, as in China, is thought to have been evident in the plan of the ancient capital (672-686 AD) of Naniwa (modern Osaka) as well. Hence, although many traditional Japanese maps are characterized by the malleability of space and lack of importance of accurate depiction of physical landscape, direction, distance, and relative orientation were quite important. Many early Japanese maps were not accurate according to Western standards. Partly, this was the result of Japan being a closed society for many years. They had a long-lasting indifference to exploration as well. And in the feudal society, it was forbidden for ordinary Japanese citizens to travel. "In fact, the Japanese government in Edo (Tokyo), had no interest in accurate map making because maps could be used by enemies to gain military advantage."〔Franklin, Colin. 1997. "A Western View of Japanese Mapmaking." Mercator's World. ISSN: 1086-6728. Volume 2 (1), January/February 1997. Page 28.〕 Distorting and falsifying maps was known during World War II. Indeed, there was some discussion that captured Japanese maps had been deliberately falsified to confuse the Allied troops. The Army Map Service put out an announcement toward the end of the war that most of the Japanese maps, although sometimes outdated, were truthful and could be used. “In general, native maps of Japan are reliable. Prior to the outbreak of the war, it was alleged that the Japanese falsified certain sheets which they later allowed to fall into our hands. Spot checks against aerial photography have revealed no evidence to substantiate this claim. However, on some of these maps, pertinent military areas were left entirely blank. The US has a basic 1:50,000 coverage for practically all of Japan and 1:25,000 coverage for about a quarter of Japan. These maps, however, do not show the major transformation of man-made features which have taken place in Japan since 1941. Because of this, native Japanese maps are obsolete and their basic reliability is decreased. It is highly important, therefore, that a large-scale map material or trig lists captured from the Japanese be transmitted promptly to the Chief of Engineers in Washington, DC. This is essential also because we possess geographic coordinates for only about a 10th of the estimated 40,000 geodetic stations established in Japan.”〔US Army Map Service. 1945. Tips of Asiatic Pacific Maps. August 1945. Pages 27-28.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Japanese maps」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|