Rezensionen: The national atlas of Japan

Summary

This paper delivers a thorough critical assessment of the first National Atlas of Japan (1977, English edition), supplemented by concise reviews of two other notable geographical publications. The National Atlas of Japan is presented as a national undertaking designed for practical application in economic and informational spheres, serving as both a knowledge repository for foreign specialists and a cartographic benchmark. The reviewer examines the atlas’s conceptual basis, thematic structure, and cartographic methods, including the government‑specified kunrei‑siki transcription system, which alters familiar Hepburn romanizations and complicates identification. The thematic content—ranging from physical geography and climate to population, industry, infrastructure, and culture—is generally well selected and cartographically sound. However, practical shortcomings are noted: the exclusive use of prefectural administrative units limits analytical depth for economic practice; temporal inconsistencies in data across thematic sections restrict comparability; and certain thematic areas, such as commuter flows and industrial location by production value, are absent. Positive highlights include the treatment of natural disasters, recreation facilities, and the extensive small‑scale cartograms and diagrams that supplement the main maps. Despite space‑wasting text pages and occasional gaps in basic data, the atlas is deemed a successful, content‑rich work that surpasses earlier Japanese atlases and significantly enriches the geographical information base. The paper also briefly reviews a geobotanical mapping volume detailing a vegetation classification of the European USSR and Transcaucasia, and an international maps and atlases bibliography cataloguing 15,000 contemporary titles, noting issues with missing publication years and the work’s practical reference value.