COLLECTION NAME:
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Record
Author:
Propaganda Department of the Imperial Japanese Navy (海軍省海軍軍事普及部)
Date:
1940
Short Title:
海國日本圖繪 紀元二千六百年紀念 / [Depiction of Maritime Japan, to Commemorate the 2600th Anniversary of the Imperial Family].
Publisher:
Propaganda Department of the Imperial Japanese Navy (海軍省海軍軍事普及部)
Type:
Wall Map
Obj Height cm:
148
Obj Width cm:
192
World Area:
Asia
World Area:
Pacific
Subject:
Historical
Subject:
Military
Full Title:
海國日本圖繪 紀元二千六百年紀念 / [Depiction of Maritime Japan, to Commemorate the 2600th Anniversary of the Imperial Family].
List No:
15730.000
Publication Author:
Propaganda Department of the Imperial Japanese Navy (海軍省海軍軍事普及部)
Pub Date:
1940
Pub Title:
海國日本圖繪 紀元二千六百年紀念 / [Depiction of Maritime Japan, to Commemorate the 2600th Anniversary of the Imperial Family].
Pub Reference:
Yoshimi, Y. (Ethan Mark, trans.), Grassroots Fascism: The War Experience of the Japanese People (Columbia University Press, 2015). Ruoff, K., Imperial Japan at Its Zenith: The Wartime Celebration of the Empire’s 2,600th Anniversary (Cornell University Press, 2010).
Pub Note:
"A rare, huge, and brilliantly-colored propaganda work issued by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) on the eve of the Pearl Harbor attack, this 1940 map celebrates the history of Japan's maritime ventures and the strength of the IJN. It also celebrates the 2600th anniversary of the Japanese imperial family that year, which was accompanied by an outpouring of hypernationalist propaganda. A Closer Look This colorful and stylized propaganda poster focuses on East Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with illustrations of ships and planes projecting outwards. Though celebrating Japan's contemporary naval prowess, it also commemorates the 2600th anniversary of imperial family and honors Japan's history of maritime connections. Colored lines indicate shipping lines, stretching as far east as the Jaluit Atoll (ヤルート) in Japan's Pacific Mandate, which was inherited from Germany after World War I. Lines of historical importance are also marked, such as Emperor Jimmu's Ryal Expedition to the East (神武天皇御東征航路). Red shading along the coast of East Asia denotes areas where 'Japanese' (in reality often Korean and Chinese as well) Wakō pirates operated in the early modern period. Japanese flags posted throughout Southeast Asia signify the presence of an overseas Japanese community. Surrounding the map, illustrations of famous Japanese ships from multiple historical eras appear, including Emperor Jimmu's ship at bottom-right and the Kankō Maru (觀光丸, at left), Japan's first steam powered warship, gifted to the Shōgun from the Netherlands in 1855. A timeline at bottom moves from right to left, beginning in antiquity and tracing the highs and lows of Japan's maritime engagements with the outside world. The eras presented do not generally follow established Japanese era names, but are specific to the map, such as the 'Age of Naval Development.' One period that does conform to common terminology is the 'closed county' (鎖國) era in the 17th through the mid-19th centuries. Additional flourishes round out the sheet, including the Japanese imperial flag at top-left and yellow cursive text at right, which, in poetic fashion, posits that Japan's (re)emergence as a maritime nation will accrue benefits to country as a whole. The 2600th Imperial Anniversary 1940 was slated to be a year of major events and festivals in Japan, including the first Olympic Games to be hosted in an Asian country. However, the outbreak of World War II caused the Olympics and other international events to be cancelled. However, Japan still moved forward with the celebration of the 2600th anniversary of the imperial family, which came to dominate domestic discourse that year. With the imperial family already playing such a prominent role in nationalism at the time, and with Japan being sucked deeper and deeper into an unwinnable quagmire in China, the events and artistic output around the anniversary were an unabashed orgy of extremist, violent, and hyperbolic rhetoric (this map is actually quite tame by comparison). Talk of 'holy war' and a readiness to sacrifice one's life for the Emperor became commonplace, setting the stage for Japan's disastrous experience over the following five years. The IJN and Japan's Imperial Plans Although both the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army were shot through with expansionist nationalism at this time, they also were rivals with competing interests and visions of how Japan's empire should expand. Going back to the Meiji era (1868 - 1912), the Army and its political allies argues for a 'northern advance' (北進論), insisting that Japan's future lay in control of Northeast Asia (Korea and Manchuria, followed by China and perhaps even Siberia). The Navy's competing 'southern advance' (南進論) instead focused on Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Although the Army's vision was more influential in the 1930s, when Japan expanded its influence in China and contemplated a war with the Soviet Union, tensions with the U.S. and a fairly calamitous mini-war with the Soviets in 1939 (Nomonhon/ Khalkhin Gol) caused the Navy's argument to win out, leading ultimately to the Pearl Harbor attacks and the simultaneous invasions of Western colonies in Southeast Asia. Publication History and Census This map was produced in 1940 by the Propaganda Department of the Imperial Japanese Navy (海軍省海軍軍事普及部). It may have been published in tandem with a text by the IJN's Propaganda Department on the 2600th imperial anniversary (紀元二千六百年第三十五囘海軍記念日を迎へて, OCLC 18874925). However, the map is not cataloged with any institution in Japan or elsewhere and has no known history on the market." (Geographicus, 2023)
Pub List No:
15730.000
Pub Type:
Wall Map
Pub Height cm:
142
Pub Width cm:
192
Image No:
15730000.jp2
Authors:
Propaganda Department of the Imperial Japanese Navy (海軍省海軍軍事普及部)
![海國日本圖繪 紀元二千六百年紀念 / [Depiction of Maritime Japan, to Commemorate the 2600th Anniversary of the Imperial Family].](https://media.davidrumsey.com/MediaManager/srvr?mediafile=/Size3/RUMSEY~8~1/205/15730000.jpg)