(Covers to) 日本鳥瞰近畿東海大図絵. [Nihon chōkan Kinki Tōkai daizue]. [Bird's Eye View Map of Japanese Honshu Island, Particularly Focusing on Tokyo and Kansai areas].

Taisho 16 [ 1927].
" A vibrant colour bird's-eye view pictorial map, 26 x 104cm, concertina style with multiple folds, text and illustrations on reverse printed in light brown ink, chipped at two corners and in a few small places on margins not affecting the image, wear along folds with some repaired with archival washi, some light browning but still overall a handsome, detailed map in good condition. This wonderful lithographed bird's eye view was published as a New Year's supplement to the Osaka Mainichi Shimbun for the year of Taisho 16 (1927). However, due to the death of Taisho Emperor on 25 December 1926, the new era of Showa started on 26 December. As a result, there was never the 16th year of Taisho. While the geography of the island of Honshu seems relatively accurate, by some magic, the map artist, Yoshida Hatsusaburo, managed to fit in not only Hokkaido, but also Hawaii and San Francisco in the far upper right corner! At upper left corner, Shanghai and Taiwan are marked in the distance. Yoshida was a renowned and popular bird's-eye map illustrator. His reputation was heightened after Crown Prince Hirohito (later Showa Emperor) used and praised Yoshida's map during his visit to Kyoto. His techniques of depicting landscape and deforming perspective are very well known. The verso has text with a guide to excursions in the Kinki - Tokai region including train information, with an advertisement for cosmetics with instructions for the correct application of makeup from before to after! This advertisement rather indicates that women were the ones who would plan holidays around that time.." (Asia Bookroom, 2024)