일본 16~17세기 세계지도병풍 연구

Abstract

This study examines why Japanese world map screens were made and what was the hidden meaning of their production in the late 16th and early 17th centuries in Japan. Japanese world map screens were made towards the end of the 16th century and at the beginning of the 17th century. While they were generally modeled after world maps produced in Europe, the Japanese either modified the European prototypes or incorporated new elements. Therefore, they are important visual testimonies of the cultural exchange between Japan and the West in the early modern period. By taking into account both their cartographic and pictorial nature in relation to the political and the economic contexts in which they were produced, this study examines the significance of two sets of world map screens. These two sets of screens are the most elaborate examples of the two world map screen types: One is the world map screens from Jōtokuji Temple, which prominently show political concerns of the time, and the other is the world map screens from the Imperial Household Agency in Tokyo, which demonstrate economic interests of the Japanese ruling class. By analyzing the visual characteristics of these two works, this study suggest their possible patronage in connection with both the novel features of the images on the screens and the interests of the Japanese rulers; Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu. Also, it explores the ways in which the map screens reflected and contributed to the construction of a national identity that followed the growing self-awareness of the Japanese people in the late 16th -early 17th centuries.