The purpose of this study is to survey the present situation of collection of and research on the Manchurian maps made by Imperial Japan. 'Maps on Foreign Countries' were made on vast areas from Kamchaka to the north to Australia to the south and from...
The purpose of this study is to survey the present situation of collection of and research on the Manchurian maps made by Imperial Japan. 'Maps on Foreign Countries' were made on vast areas from Kamchaka to the north to Australia to the south and from India to the west to Alaska to the east. The maps are now kept mainly in colleges and research institutes in addition to the National Diet Library in Japan. Such countries as USA, England, Korea and China also have maps. For example, Seoul National University in South Korea has almost complete set of 1: 500,000-scale map and several small scale maps on Manchuria. Various materials on the process of map-making exist in Japan. Several volumes of the chronicles on the Land Survey Bureau of Imperial Japan are available in addition to a few materials on the process of surveying and map-making on Manchuria. Systematic research on 'Maps on Foreign Countries' in Japan is still in the early stage, mainly focusing on the inventory of maps within Japan and abroad. Such topics as cartographic characteristics of maps, map contents and their military use, international cooperation for the study of these maps and others should be studied for the understanding of Manchurian maps.