Outlook

‘Rebus of famous places in Edo’ (Edo meisho hanjimono 江戸名所はんじもの), 1868 (Ansei 5), woodcut, colour, National Diet Library Tokyo, shelfmark: 寄別3-1-2-4, URL: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1304030.

As Robert Goree indicates, ‘maps in Tokugawa Japan could be serious’ as well as ‘serious business too.’ We have seen in the tutorial that maps were important instruments to administer the provinces and their inhabitants as well as important elements of the Edo-period print market, as travel culture developed. You have learned in this exercise that maps could be playful too, while also fulfilling didactic purposes. If you would like to solve further rebuses, take a look at the ‘Rebus of famous places in Edo’, offered by the National Diet Library Tokyo (URL: https://www.ndl.go.jp/landmarks/quiz/).