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Room of Japan · History

Ino Tadataka and the first survey map of Japan

In short

Ino Tadataka (1745–1818) made Japan’s first map based on actual surveys. He began at 55, surveyed from Hokkaido to Kyushu, and after his death his pupils finished the map in 1821.
1745–1818Map finished 1821
伊能忠敬Ino Tadataka
Began surveying
1800, at age 55
Surveys
10, from 1800 to 1816
The map
Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu
Sheets
214 large, 8 medium, 3 small

From the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI).

From village head to surveyor

Tadataka was born in 1745 in what is now Kujukuri. At 17 he married into the Ino family of Sawara and took the name Tadataka. At 36 he became a village head.

At 49 he handed the headship of the family to his eldest son and retired. At 50 he moved to Fukagawa in Edo and became a pupil of Takahashi Yoshitoki.

Why measure Japan?

Astronomy at that time could not predict when eclipses of the sun and moon would happen. To solve this, people needed to measure the distance of one degree of latitude and fix the size of the Earth.

Takahashi Yoshitoki planned to find the latitude of many places while making maps, and to work out the length of one degree. He asked the shogunate to allow a survey and map-making as far as Ezo (Hokkaido).

Ten surveys

In 1800, at 55, Tadataka set out on his first survey, of Tohoku and southern Hokkaido.

In 1804 he presented a map of the eastern half of Japan’s coasts, which the shogun Ienari viewed. After that he worked for the shogunate. The surveys went on to the Kinki and Chugoku areas, Shikoku and Kyushu, and the tenth survey, of Edo, was in 1816. Tadataka did not join the ninth survey, of the Izu Islands.

The Ino map

Tadataka died in 1818, at 73. His pupils carried on the work, and in 1821 the Dai Nihon Enkai Yochi Zenzu was finished and presented to the shogunate.

It has 214 large sheets, 8 medium sheets (1:216,000) and 3 small sheets (1:432,000), made from surveys over 17 years. The year 2021 was the 200th year since the map was finished.

Think about it

There is no single right answer. Talking it over with someone at home is a good way to learn.

Did you know? — Ino Tadataka set out on his first survey at the age of 55.
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About this page
All facts: Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI), “200 years of the Ino maps” (exhibition guide, Japanese), GSI, “Ino maps: the starting point of modern maps” (Japanese), GSI Kids, “Ino Tadataka 1745–1818” (Japanese)
Written by CCN CO., LTD.
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