Japan Great Earthquake of 1923 maps

Earthquake damage, emergency relief and reconstruction become geographical subjects in this official Japanese mapping. Maps from Companion Maps and Diagrams to the Great Earthquake of 1923 in Japan were issued in 1926 by the Bureau of Social Affairs of the Home Office as companion maps and diagrams to its account of the disaster. Tokyo and Yokohama appear through devastated districts and fire damage, while Tokyo Bay and Sagami Bay introduce changes beneath the ground and sea. Other sheets plot landslides, affected households, relief recipients, supply depots and temporary accommodation. A reconstruction scheme moves the sequence from immediate destruction towards planning for the city’s future. The collection’s strength is this combination of physical and social evidence: the earthquake is represented through altered terrain, damaged settlements and the organisation of assistance, with Tokyo and Yokohama receiving distinct treatments.