The map was for navigational purposes and Japan traded with the West so when making a map it seems logical that it would be drawn west to east, since that was the direction of trade. The fact that Western Asia was so important to Japan, important enough at least to be emphasized on a Japanese map of Japan, is probably why the map is drawn west to east rather than north to south. Also, China was clearly important to Japan, Japan must have traded with China, not to mentioning adopting certain aspects of Chinese culture.

TheyвЂ™d emphasize the west because India was the center of the Buddhist world and the Japanese practiced Buddhism. Next, the character for West is most likely emphasized because China and/or India are located to its west. Thus the Chinese characters on the map reveal JapanвЂ™s association with China. I donвЂ™t know why but I always thought Japan historically was isolated. So Japan had a connection to China and was influenced by China, probably adopting more than just a writing system. So why are the details of a Japanese made and used map written with Chinese characters? One of the guides at the museum told me that Japan used the Chinese writing system before developing their own writing system. It was made in Japan, used by Japanese but is written with at least some Chinese characters. It has Volvos, paper circles that turn and are used to depict solar and lunar calendars for the purpose of understanding tides. It is folded in many places suggesting it was used to navigate. It has mountains drawn and other orthographic features drawn on it. This map was mostly likely originally made for navigation purposes. What does all this reveal? I think these details-the Chinese characters, the emphasis of the character for West, and how the map reads west to east-reveal that Japan and its culture were influenced by and connected to its western neighbors. Lastly, the map is drawn from west to east rather than north to south. Why? Also, the character for north is on one side of the page, south on the opposite side, east on another side and west on another-but the character for west is emphasized, drawn differently. While my knowledge of Chinese characters is little to say the least and I have no knowledge of Japanese writing, I do recognize the characters for East, West, North, South, and in front among others, leading me to believe this Japanese made map is at least partially written in Chinese rather than being written completely in Japanese. I distinctly recognize Chinese characters on the map. What does a map of Japan, made in Japan reveal about Japan? This map from around 1690 shows a close up of the same land mass found on most of the other maps in the collection, except unlike some of them it lacks longitude and latitude lines and instead of using roman letters uses presumably a Japanese writing system. The Strange Maps blog has been named by GeekDad Blog on 'one of the more unusual and unique sites seen on the Web that doesn't sell anything or promote an agenda' and it's currently ranked #423 on Technorati's Top 500 Blogs.Д«rimming with trivia, deadpan humor, and idiosyncratic lore, Strange Maps is a fascinating tour of all things weird and wonderful in the world of cartography. Fantastic Maps, with a depiction of what the globe might look like if the sea and land were inverted.

Obscure Proposals, capturing Thomas Jefferson's vision for dividing the Northwest Territory into ten states with names such as Polypotamia and Assenisipia.Whatchamacallit, including a map of the area codes for regions where the rapper Ludacris sings about having 'hoes'.Political Parody, containing the 'Jesusland map' and other humorous takes on voter profiles.Cartographic Misconceptions, such as a lavish seventeenthcentury map depicting California as an island.Literary Creations, featuring a map of Thomas More's Utopia and the world of George Orwell's 1984.Categories of cartographic curiosities include: The result is a distinctive illustrated guide to the world.

Spanning many centuries, all continents, and the realms of outer space and the imagination, this collection of 138 unique graphics combines beautiful full-color illustrations with quirky statistics and smart social commentary. An intriguing collection of more than one hundred out-of-the-ordinary maps, blending art, history, and pop culture for a unique atlas of humanity

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