Map of Japan to accompany a report by the first British minister to Japan, Sir Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897), and showing his route from Nagasaki to Yedo (Tokyo) in 1861.



Alcock (1809-1897) was an English doctor-turned-diplomat and collector of Japanese cultural items and art. He was the first British minister to Japan and in 1861, he made a journey across the country. In 1862 during the "International Exhibition" held on the site of the Natural History Museum and Imperial College, the section to highlight the achievements of Japan was said to have been largely made up of pieces from Alcock's personal collection. He became President for the Royal Geographical Society (R. G. S.) between 1876-1878.



The report that this map would have originally accompanied was titled "Narrative of a Journey through the Interior of Japan from Nagasaki to Yeddo in 1861", featured in Volume 32 of the "Journal of the Royal Geographical Society", published in 1862



Across the map, marked with the boundaries of the provinces and the road network, are small rectangular icons to indicate the locations of "Daimios". These were powerful territorial lords in Japan existing from the 11th-19th Century, subordinate to the shōgun (1185-1868), to the Emperor and the "kuge" (aristocratic class). The term, dai (大) means "large", and myō stands for myōden (名田), meaning "private land".


Original hand colour. [SEAS2751]