Cartographical survey: The National Atlas of Japan

Summary

John Sargent reviews the English-language version of The National Atlas of Japan, compiled by the Geographical Survey Institute, Ministry of Construction, and published by the Japan Map Center in 1977 after years of preparation by government officials, academic specialists and cartographers. Intended chiefly for planners, businesspeople and officials concerned with national resources and land policy, it contains 216 maps, mostly using government data from the early 1970s. Economic themes occupy over two fifths of its content, alongside extensive physical, social and environmental coverage. Its 50 A1 and 166 A2 maps are supplemented by explanatory notes, auxiliary maps, graphs, diagrams and administrative-boundary overlays. Sargent praises the production quality, comprehensive coverage and notes summarizing Japan’s geography. He finds the use of colour shading, proportional symbols, dots and proportional lines generally successful, but criticizes overlapping symbols in concentrated activity zones, notably the Inland Sea shipping map, and information obscured by the centre folds of larger maps. He also notes that temporal change is mapped only for population and railway development. Despite these limitations, he regards the atlas as an exceptionally valuable reference work.