Abstract
The history of modern maps in Japan began with Inoh’s map that was made by surveying the whole of Japan on foot 200 years ago. Inoh’s team investigated coastlines, major roads, and geographical features such as rivers, lakes, temples, forts, village names, etc. The survey was successively conducted ten times from 1800 to 1816. Inoh’s map is known as the first scientific map in Japan using a systematic method. However, the actual survey was conducted only for 75% of the coastlines in Japan and the remaining 25% was drawn by Inoh’s estimation (observation). This study investigated how the non-surveyed (estimated) coastlines were distributed in the map and why the actual survey was not conducted in these non-surveyed coastlines. Using GIS, we overlaid the geometrically corrected Inoh’s map (Digital Inoh’s Map Professional Edition) with the current map published by the Geospatial Information Authority (GSI) of Japan for examining the spatial difference. We found that the non-surveyed coastlines were in places where the practice of actual surveying was topographically difficult because of the limited surveying technology of those days. The analytical result shows that 38.6% of the non-surveyed coastlines were cliffs, 25.7% were rocky beaches, and 6.2% were wetlands and tidal lands (including rice fields and tidal flats).
Highlights
Inoh’s map is known as Japan’s first scientific map with high accuracy [1]
We compared the difference between the non-surveyed coastline and focusing onon thethe landscape features in the locacoastline and the theactual actualcoastline, coastline, focusing landscape features inspecified the specified tions, given that the estimated coastline was explored from the land and sea
This study focused on the non-surveyed coastline drawn by estimation in Inoh’s map and investigated their distributions, physical conditions, and differences with actual coastlines at that time
Summary
Inoh’s map is known as Japan’s first scientific map with high accuracy [1]. The national map had been compiled by connecting local maps of different regions based on different surveying standards. In 1821, the national map of Japan, titled “Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi. Zenzu“ (commonly known as “Inoh’s map”), was completed by surveyor Inoh Tadataka. He surveyed the coastlines in the whole of Japan with a uniform standard unlike previous national maps of Japan. To create a precise national map, Inoh Tadataka carried out 10 survey trips between 1800 and 1816 (Figure 1). Surveying in western Japan began in 1805.
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