Published January 1, 1930 ( Showa 5) by Osaka Mainichi News, New Year Supplement (prewar oversized Seisora ugoroku world aviation path diagram)
The legends show: major flight routes, scheduled flight routes, planned flight routes, major destinations.
Photographic images highlight events and people from around the world.
Measures 30 x 42
This important chart titled “ Night of September 18, Battle Summary Near North Garrison’ was published by the Kwangtung Army HQ and printed by the South Manchurian Printing Co. The map measures 15 ¼ x 21 ½
The Mukden Incident, or Manchurian Incident, was a staged event engineered by rogue Japanese military personnel as a pretext for the Japanese invasion in 1931 of northeastern China, known as Manchuria. This incident was similar in impact to China as the bombing of Pearl Harbor was to the USA. Uninvited attacks that led to further confrontation and war.
On September 18, 1931, Lt. Suemori Kawamoto detonated a small quantity of dynamite close to a railway line owned by Japan's South Manchuria Railway near Mukden (now Shenyang). The explosion was so weak that it failed to destroy the track and a train passed over it minutes later, but the Imperial Japanese Army accused Chinese dissidents of the act and responded with a full invasion that led to the occupation of Manchuria, in which Japan established its puppet state of Manchukuo six months later.
Map translations:
North Garrison located right below the title. Scale 1:10,000
Japanese Soldiers approximately 600; Chinese soldiers approximately 8,000 – 10,000 near the North Garrison.
Top left description:
Red ink – Japanese soldiers position and movement
Blue ink – Chinese soldiers position and movement
Red Cross at mid bottom is the exact location of railway explosion done by the Chinese
BOTTOM RIGHT: inset of Mukden City,
This map was printed December 3, 1934 (SHOWA 9) and published January 1, 1935 (Showa 10) by The "GREAT JAPAN DEBATE SOCIETY" a right wing organization before WWII. KING MAGAZINE supplement issue, 11th Volume.
The insets show a 1st comparison of military might of the ARMY, AIR FORCE and fleet SIZE OF RUSSIA, AMERICA AND JAPAN.
Map measures 31 x 43 inches.
Japan was a member of the Allies during WWI and participated in a joint operation with British forces in the Battle of Tsingtao to capture the German settlement in China's Shandong Province. The Imperial Japanese Navy was tasked with pursuing and destroying the German East Asiatic Squadron and protection of the shipping lanes for Allied commerce in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
During the course of this operation, the Japanese Navy seized the German possessions in the Marianas, Carolines, Marshall Islands and Palau groups by October 1914.
After the end of World War I, as determined in the Treaty of Versailles, Japan was rewarded with control and occupation of former German colonies in Micronesia north of the equator and was given a League of Nations Class C mandate. ( The South Pacific Mandate)
These islands became important staging grounds for Japanese air and naval offensives in the Pacific War.
Kwajalein was a major base supporting the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island
Palau supported the Battle of the Philippines
Saipan supported the Battle of Guam
Truk became the base for amphibious landings on Tarawa and Makin in the Gilberts, as well as Rabaul, in the Australian mandate Territory of New Guinea
Majuro was used in air strikes against Howland Island
Jaluit Atoll was the base from which the Japanese Navy seized Nauru and Ocean Island
The mandated territories also produced significant quantities of sugar cane, bananas, pineapples, taro, coconuts, and other tropical farming products on a par with Taiwan. The islands also provided bases for the Japanese fishing fleet.
Already controlling an area directly surrounding the South Manchuria Railroad, Japan's Kwantung Army further invaded Manchuria (Northeast China) in 1931, following the Mukden Incident, in which they claimed to have had territory attacked by the Chinese (a few meters of the South Manchuria Railway was damaged in an explosion caused by dynamite).
When Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in 1933 over the Mukden Incident, it also renounced all treaty obligations.
Japan's intention to acquire resource-producing colonies in the Pacific and Southeast Asia would likely lead to confrontation with the United States, thus the U.S. became Japan's primary potential enemy. War was eminent and now was the time to begin preparation.
This map published in 1934, one year after leaving the United Nations, shows Japan sizing up the military might of it’s potential enemies. Insets show a comparison of the Air Force, Fleet Size, and Army of the USA, Russia and Japan. Strategic areas important to the Japanese are distinguished, including Midway, Pearl Harbor, Dutch Harbor in the Aluetians, Dutch East Indes and French Indo China. Eventually all of these areas would be struck by the Imperial Japanese Navy.
This is a great example of an early map used in preparation for war by the Imperial Japanese Navy. Based on the date of issue, large wall map size and the strategic list of targeted geographic areas, this map was probably used for military purposes and would not have been available for civillian use. A cornerstone for any Pacific map collection.
Issued on January 1, 1937 showing the power projection of the Imperial Japanese Navy including Carrier Akagi near Hawaii.
During the 1930s, the Japanese Navy began construction of airfields, fortifications, ports, and other military projects in the islands controlled under the South Pacific mandate, viewing the islands as "unsinkable aircraft carriers" with a critical role to play in the defense of the Japanese home islands against potential American invasion.
These became important staging grounds for Japanese air and naval offensives in the Pacific War.
Kwajalein was a major base supporting the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island
Palau supported the Battle of the Philippines
Saipan supported the Battle of Guam
Truk became the base for amphibious landings on Tarawa and Makin in the Gilberts, as well as Rabaul, in the Australian mandate Territory of New Guinea
Majuro was used in air strikes against Howland Island
Jaluit Atoll was the base from which the Japanese Navy seized Nauru and Ocean Island
IN ADDITION TO THE ISLANDS' NAVAL IMPORTANCE, THE JAPANESE ARMY UTILIZED THE ISLANDS TO SUPPORT AIR AND LAND DETACHMENTS. THE "ISLAND-HOPPING" STRATEGY EMPLOYED BY THE UNITED STATES MILITARY CAUSED THE JAPANESE EMPIRE TO LOSE CONTROL OF ITS PACIFIC POSSESSIONS BETWEEN 1943 AND 1945.BY 1937, JAPAN HAD ANNEXED TERRITORY NORTH OF BEIJING AND FOLLOWING THE MARCO POLO BRIDGE INCIDENT, A FULL-SCALE INVASION OF CHINA BEGAN.
Japan's intention to acquire resource-producing colonies in the Pacific and Southeast Asia would likely lead to confrontation with the United States, thus the U.S. became Japan's primary potential enemy.
Publisher: Ministry of the Navy
WW2 Japanese Navy Mapshowing World Fleet Warship deployment
Pictorial Zero Fighter 1938
Original Size: 53.5cm×38.5cm
Published May 1939 by Ministry Of Navy, Division of Naval Knowledge Diffusion . The map measures 58 x 78 inches- Shows Table of Naval Powers with flags represented USA, UK, France, Italy, Germany, USSR
Aviation routes bottom left inset of Japan, Manchuria, UK, USA, France, Germany, Italy
Naval bases; UK, USA, France, Italy, Germany, USSR
The map has pencil markings on the back noting mathematical calculations.
1941 large Pacific Ocean map published for the Kizaki Ryuo national policy implementation Study Group.
Issued Sep. 08, 1941 - 3 months before the Pearl Harbor Attack.
Map is attached on 60" x 61" scroll.
Condition is good with some slight tears .
Map is rare due to size and significant publish date.
This map, published by Mr, HASHIMOTO in Tokyo for a private distributor, the Union Press Photo Bureau, shows the areas and the resources needed by Japan for basic survival and where they were located. The Dutch East Indes would be essential for much needed oil, while French Indo China would serve as a very important source as well. The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere would be the method used to acquire these resources from neighboring countries.
Printed August 13, published August 18, 1942 ( Showa 17)
Translation of inset box in the upper right corner:
Top Line left to right: Coconut oil, cotton, rice, sugar, tea
Second row; chrome, tungsten, iron, magnesium, bauxite
Third row: industrial salt, nickel, oil, zinc, lead
Bottom line left to right; Sulfar, phosphate, coal, silver, gold
Map measures 30 x 42
The map was printed June 20, SHOWA 17 (1942) and released on June 25th of the same year. This map was originally for government use only and was not for sale to the public.
During WWII, mandatory community meetings across Japan were requested
by the Government to educate the public about the benefits of the Greater East Aisia Co-Prosperity Sphere, consequentlylarge wall maps were printed for this purpose but few
survived in decent condition due to their frequency of use, exposure to the elements or destroyed as evidence.
This rare map’s purpose was strictly for government use and no copies were made available for sale to the public. This is a prime example of the implementation of the Greater East Aisia Co-prosperity Sphere as an instrument of propaganda. At these meetings people were shown all of the members who made up the sphere and the resources they provided for the ultimate benefit of Japan. The map measures approximately 31" x 41" and has been expertly linen backed.
Complete translation available upon request.
Drawn and published in response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this is one of the most detailed USA maps of the Pacific ever produced. McArthur’s “Hit em where they’re not” and “Island Hopping” campaigns could not be carried out until we knew where every island, atoll and knoll was located. The chart serves as a Pacific Theater “situation” map showing flight routes, distances and possessions as they existed at the beginning of the war.
This Pacific centric map demystifies the otherwise mysterious ocean. The Pacific is generally shown incomplete as an extension of the West Coast of North America, Oceanica, North and SE Asia, the Aluetians and the South Pacific. This complete map showing the whole Pacific and surrounding continents and island groupings is a valuable tool in understanding the strategic movement of troops and Pacific war stratagies. Six smaller maps appear on the back side. The Navy has recently declassified and released the Nimitz Gray Book which documents the incidents of the Pacific Theater from Dec. 7, 1941 through the end of the war in 1945. This detailed map can be used to trace all of the military movement and battles of the Pacific Theater with great detail.
View Gray Book at http://www.ibiblio.org/anrs/graybook.html
The original map measures 20 ½ x 27
This detailed map of Hawaii was originally published April 1, 1943, republished June 20, 1943. The insets show the Hawaiian archipelago and environs (Sandwich Archipelago), the eight major islands in the chain and a close up of Pearl Harbor and Honolulu environs. This is one of the last large scale maps of Hawaii ever to be printed by the Japanese Empire.
The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亞共榮圏 Dai-tō-a Kyōeiken) was an imperial propaganda concept created and promulgated for occupied Asian populations during the first third of the Shōwa era by the government and military of the Empire of Japan. It extended greater than East Asia and promoted the cultural and economic unity of Northeast Asians, Southeast Asians, and Oceanians. It also declared the intention to create a self-sufficient "bloc of Asian nations led by the Japanese and free of Western powers". It was announced in a radio address entitled "The International Situation and Japan's Position" by Foreign Minister Hachirō Arita on June 29, 1940. As planned, The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity sphere would include Hawaii, Howland Island, Baker Island the , Phoenix Islands, Rain Islands, Marquesas, Tuamotu Islands, Society Islands, Cook Islands , Austral Islands, all of the Samoan Islands, and Tonga.
The possibility of re-establishing the defunct Kingdom of Hawaii was also considered, based on the model of Manchukuo. Those favoring annexation of Hawaii (on the model of Karafuto) intended to use the local Japanese community, which had constituted 43% (c. 160,000) of Hawaii's population in the 1920s, as a leverage. Hawaii was to become self-sufficient in food production, while the Big Five corporations of sugar and pineapple processing were to be broken up. No decision was ever reached regarding whether Hawaii would be annexed to Japan, become a puppet kingdom, or be used as a bargaining chip for leverage against the U.S.
This rare Japanese Language newspaper was published in Hawaii to commemorate the printing of the 9,000th edition. During the late 20’s the Japanese population in Hawaii was quite large and growing. Newspapers such as these were vital to providing information about Hawaii to local and foreign Japanese. The map provides vital stastitics on population, bank savings rates, resources, shipping lines,import, exports, geography, schools, land area and length of shoreline of each island.
Eventually, The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere plan would include Hawaii with the possibility of re-establishing the defunct Kingdom of Hawaii. Those favoring annexation of Hawaii (on the model of Karafuto) intended to use the local Japanese community, which had constituted 43% (c. 160,000) of Hawaii's population in the 1920s, as a leverage. It was believed that local Japanese were spies for Japan and provided statisical and strategic information to Japan.
A full professional translation of this map is available.
Map meaures 20 x 28