Complete Maps Ezo (1 results)

Two handsome large ink and watercolour manuscript maps of Ezo. This first is an Edo period manuscript copy of Hayashi Shihei's map of the Ezo (modern day Hokkaido), showing the northeastern tip of Honshu, Manchuria as a large landmass along the lower border, and the island of Sakhalin. The Russian territory of Kamchatka is also shown. Drawn on a single washi sheet and hand coloured in yellow, sea in blue and mountains in green. Sakhalin is coloured in green. Contains descriptions about the outside world. The delicate Japanese paper has been re-backed using washi paper and old repairs are present, this has created some creasing to the folds but not affecting the legibility, some light worming and browning. A scarce and attractive example of a forbidden map of the period. 53.8 x 95.7cm. The second, also an Edo period manuscript map, was drawn by an unknown person clearly deeply interested in the northern borderlands of Japan and wishing to update the incorrect areas on Hayashi Shihei's map. A few light stains and some occasional worming but overall very good. 55 x 86.5cm. This pair of early nineteenth century maps of Ezo (present day Hokkaido and neighbouring islands) provide a wonderful illustration of expanding Japanese knowledge of the northern borderlands of Japan. The first map is a manuscript copy of one of the five maps published to accompany the highly controversial Japanese book 'Sangoku tsüran zusetsu' by Hayashi Shihei. Published in 1785 this work described the geography and customs of three countries - Kankoku (Korea), Yezo or Ezo (present day Hokkaido), and Ryükyü (present day Okinawa). At the time of its publication Ezo was only partially occupied by Japanese settlers, who had colonized Matsumae Domain in the extreme south of the island (an area also known as 'Wajinchi' - Japanese people's territory). The remainder of the island, then known as Ezochi, was inhabited by its indigenous Ainu people, although Matsumae Domain was exerting increasing economic domination over this region. Hayashi's maps reflect his concern at the growing Russian presence in East Asia and his belief that there was a need to strengthen Japan's defences. In his notes on this map of Ezo , Hayashi also outlines the eastern coasts of Manchuria and Siberia and the southern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and notes, "since, in recent years, men of Orosha [Russians] have taken possession of the territory east of Tartary, this land is called Orosha, or Kamusasuka? Also since the Russians all wear red coats, the residents of Ezo call them Red Ezo in their dialect." It is interesting that on both of these two maps, 'Karafuto' and 'Sagaren' (Sakhalin) are depicted as being two separate places, although in fact 'Karafuto' was the name which the Japanese applied to the island that the Russians called 'Sakhalin'. The second map contains newly added text, including an explanation that the map is similar to that produced by Hayashi Shihei, but has been somewhat revised on the basis of newer knowledge. In fact, the revisions are substantial. The outline of Ezo is much more detailed and considerably closer to reality (though still not fully accurate). New place names, bays and rivers have been added. The mapping of the Kurile Islands in particular is much more precise. The accompanying text contains added information about the size of islands and the distances between them, and the information that Ezo extends from 43 degrees [north] to 51 or 52 degrees. Growing familiarity with Ainu culture is also indicated by the fact that on this later map the term 'Red Ezo' is annotated an approximation of the Ainu-language version of this term: 'furesisam' (rendered here as 'fureshamo'). An important innovation of Hayashi's mapping was the use of colour to indicate national sovereignties. On the copy of the original Hayashi map, the northern tip of the island of Honshu and the area of Matsumae Domain are coloured the same beige-ish colour, while Ezo (including all the roughly sketched Kurile Islands) are coloured pink. On the second map, northern Honshu and Matsumae domain are flesh-coloured (representing, according to the text, the Japanese spiritual tradition and its love of life), Ezochi is earth coloured, and other regions are blue or white. Given the more recent territorial disputes between Russia and Japan over the southern Kurile Islands, it is of interest that this map colours the island of Kunashiri as belonging to Ezochi, but all the other Kurile islands as being outside Ezochi's boundaries. The map appears to date from the very early part of the 19th century, because it marks the northwestern boundary of Wajinchi as extending to the settlement of Kumaishi. From 1807 onwards this boundary line was extended further north.