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Section 1 ISLES OF WONDER
Over a period of half a century, Sir Hugh and Lady Cortazzi have amassed a collection of over sixty historical maps of Japan. The collection was entrusted to the care of the Lisa Sainsbury Library at the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures in Norwich at the time of its opening in 2003. On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Lisa Sainsbury Library, a selection of rarely seen maps from the Cortazzi collection were displayed at the Embassy of Japan in a special exhibition entitled JAPAN: Historical Images from the Cortazzi Collection. The exhibition held between 24 June and 18 July 2013 displayed a selection of maps from the Cortazzi collection including a Venetian image from the early sixteenth century and also those made in Japan during the Edo (1603–1868 CE) and Meiji (1868–1912 CE) periods. On display were Japanese Edo-period guidebooks for travellers who were increasingly making pilgrimage journeys throughout the country. There were illustrated city plans detailing the various temples and shrines to be visited. First-hand knowledge of Japan was scarce and very few Europeans had ever visited the country. The only Europeans who were allowed to directly trade with Japan were the Dutch and they were confined to the artificial island of Dejima in Nagasaki. Fairly accurate representations of this island often appeared in histories of the country. By contrast, European representations of cities such as Edo (present-day Tokyo) and the shogun’s castle were works of pure fantasy, relying on the tales of travellers who themselves had never been to Japan. The exhibition provided a unique opportunity for the pubic to view a rare assemblage of historic maps of Japan circulated in both Japan and in the West. Many of the 1200 visitors who saw the exhibition commented on the outstanding quality of some of the maps. [read more]
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Section 2 Visions of Edo
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Section 3 A Closer Look at Kyushu
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Section 4 Old Japanese Maps
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Section 5 Old European Maps