Nihon yochi rotei zenzu (Route Map of Japan)
A map of Japan published in the Edo period, the first map in Japan marked with longitude and latitude
Nihon yochi rotei zenzu (Route Map of Japan) was created in 1774 by Sekisui Nagakubo and published, with revisions, in Osaka in 1779. Also known as Sekisui zu (The Sekisui Map), this map of Japan, the first in Japan to be marked with longitude and latitude, it was widely used in the early the Meiji period. Its significant influence is seen in subsequent mapmaking, most notably the Ino zu (The Ino Map). A geographer who served the Mito clan, Sekisui Nagakubo (1717–1801) was from Akahama Village in Taga County, Hitachi Province (present-day Takahagi, Ibaraki Prefecture). Born Harutaka Nagakubo, he was commonly known as Gengobei and came to be called Sekisui. His vast knowledge of geography caught the eye of the Mito clan, and so Sekisui was engaged to help with the compilation of the Dai Nihon shi (The History of Great Japan). In addition to this route map, he also worked as a cartographer on other maps, including Chikyu bankoku sankai yochi zenzu setsu (Map and Description of Geography of All the Countries of the Globe). He was also the author of Annankoku hyoryu ki (Record of Drifting to Annan) and Too kiko (Record of Travel to the Eastern Interior).
Related People, Things and Events
Books
Related Works
See Maps by Nagakubo Sekisui
Institutions Holding Related Materials
長久保赤水はじめ、郷土の先人の資料を展示。
The National Diet Library (NDL), founded in 1948, is the library which belongs to the Diet. The NDL assists the activities of the National Diet. The Library collects and conserves materials and information both from Japan and abroad, serving as a foundation of knowledge and culture and providing library services to administrative and judicial entities and Japanese citizens.
The National Archives is an organization for preserving, as historical materials, public records and archives of importance transferred from state organs, and providing them for public use, with the aim of achieving appropriate preservation and use of such public records and archives that are kept in the National Archives or state organs as historical materials.
External Links
茨城県つくば市にある国土地理院のホームページに掲載された「古地図コレクション」のページで『改正日本輿地路程全図』が検索できる。
水戸市にある茨城県立図書館郷土資料室による電子展示。長久保赤水関係の歴史資料を閲覧できる。
平成4年（1992）高萩市の有志を中心にして発足。長久保赤水についての伝記な解説のほか、ギャラリーでは赤水に関連する地図類、文書、書簡などのデジタルを閲覧できる。
茨城県高萩市教育委員会のホームページ。生涯学習課のページでは「長久保赤水」について詳しく解説されている。
横浜市立大学の「古地図データベース」では長久保赤水作の『地球万国山海輿地全図説』なども検索できる。