H. Boesch · 1975
This review evaluates the 1974 revised edition of the Atlas of Japan, a physical, economic, and social reference work first published in 1970. The new edition incorporates updated statistical data and adopts conventional English romanization in place of the less accessible Kunreishiki system. Its principal addition is a separate overview map of Japan, dated 1974, at scales of 1:2,000,000 and 1:3,500,000 for the southern islands, highlighting planned motorways and high-speed railway lines. The reviewer concludes that the atlas is a valuable resource for readers seeking current information on Japan, while its thematic maps also offer useful models for cartographic design.
Robert Hall · 1977
The reviewer praises the updated second edition of Atlas of Japan: Physical, Economic and Social (1974), edited by Akira Ebato and Kazuo Watanabe, for its cartography, color, reproduction, metropolitan insets, and readable statistical tables and graphs. Its thematic maps cover the physical environment, population and cities, agriculture, forestry and fisheries, mining, power and manufacturing, trade, income, transportation, mass media, and national parks and monuments. The reviewer notes the omission of air and water pollution and finds that the maps remain clear despite their extensive information. The English, French, and Spanish supplement explains the maps through concise geographical accounts, including population change from the Tokugawa period onward, postwar rural-to-urban migration, agricultural mechanization, sea-farming, and urban concentration in Densely Inhabited Districts. The reviewer regards the maps and accompanying texts as a broad, visually accomplished basic reference on Japan’s modernization.
