Edo Period Digital Maps

I enjoy feudal Japanese history and I geek out over maps. I was pleasantly surprised when a quick search yielded a collection of digitized maps dating from the Edo Period done by the National Archives of Japan.

Apparently the Tokugawa shogunate ordered the creation detailed political maps of the entirety of Japan. These maps were 1:26000 scale and show important landmarks, towns, and boundaries of Japan in the late-17th and  early 18th centuries. Alongside these maps, the National Archives of Japan has digitized other important historic works, including the Japanese constitution that came as a result of Meiji Restoration and photographs dating back to the 1870's

For me this shows how digitizing can provide exposure in ways that no other medium ever could. From my comfortable chair in West Milton, OH, I am able to gaze upon unique 300-year old maps from country 6500 miles away that I will likely never be able to visit (Google told me that distance; bless you my Google overlords).

Source: National Archives of Japan