Historical maps of Edo

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An ongoing step at Edo (modern-day Tokyo) mapping activities is assigning geographical location to the scans for visual integration of the images as historical map layers. To do that, we work on geo-referencing and overlaying these historical maps on top of modern cartography.

Edo Kiriezu, first version appeared in the mid 18th century, and were designed for people’s intra-city mobility, who needed helpful information to get from a place to a destination inside the city. Our digital mapping makes use of the scans of Omi-ya version (1846-1856) of Edo Kiriezu, acquired from the archives of Museum Volkenkunde at Leiden. Edo Kiriezu, roughly translated as ‘cut-in-pieces map of Edo’, is a distinctive map of the premodern city, representing the perception of urban space. Edo Kiriezu shares the historical Japanese cartographic conception with anken-zu maps (anken stands for ‘easy-to-look’, literally translated). Still, Kiriezu is considerably more enhanced in the map portability, clear directions and visualization of urban space. If one would head for a particular part of Edo, s/he could pick up the corresponding area maps from the set. Each was foldable, small enough to put in their pockets/sleeves.

Our research bridging everyday activities of Edo community, and spatial dimension will give an insight on the social construct of the premodern city. The Edo Kiriezu maps are illustrative in depicting the whereabouts of landmarks such as temples and shrines and way-finding. The rich annotations, detailed depiction of streets (including entities such as staircases, ramps, gates) makes it very valuable for urban history. Such a historical map layer will give clues to explore the urban history of Edo from spatial perspective as the map is rich with information such as land use, physical features, activities, mobility arteries.

Work in progress. Geo-visualisation and video creation by Gamze Saygi.