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Pre-Modern Illustrated Maps (Ezu) and Old Maps Held by the National Diet Library

This webpage explains how to find pre-modern Japanese illustrated maps (ezu) and old maps in the collection of the National Diet Library (NDL). (Pre-modern Japanese illustrated maps and old maps are held in the Tokyo Main Library's Rare Books and Old Materials Room).
For information on how to search for materials held by other institutions or reproductions held by the NDL, please see Searching for Old Maps of Japan (Before the Edo Period).

1. How to Search

1-1. Searching with NDL Search

NDL Search enables users to search for pre-modern Japanese illustrated maps (ezu) and old maps held by the NDL, both digitized and non-digitized.

Before Searching

Please click on “Refiners” to expand the simple search dialog and add the following fields by customizing the search fields.

  • Material Type
  • Location
  • Subject

How to search

  1. Select “Japanese and Chinese Old Materials” in the Material Type field.
  2. Select “Tokyo Main Library> Rare Books and Old Materials Room” in the Location field.
  3. Search by typing “地図” and the region name (example: Japan, world, former province name, city name, etc.) in Japanese in the subject field, and connect them with a half-width space.
    Example: “地図 日本” (Maps Japan), “地図 世界” (Maps world), “地図 江戸” (Maps Edo)

If you are unable to find the materials using the search method above, please consider using the following alternative methods.

  1. Select “Japanese and Chinese Old Materials” in the Material type Field
  2. Select “Tokyo Main Library > Rare Books and Old Materials Room” in the Location Field
  3. Search by typing “地図・絵図” in the subject field.
  4. If the search results are too numerous, refine your search by typing place names, country names, or region names in the keyword field and searching again.

1-2. Searching with the NDL Digital Collections

The NDL Digital Collections enables users to browse and copy digitized pre-modern Japanese illustrated maps (ezu) and old maps held by the NDL.

How to search

  1. Select “Rare Books and Old Materials” from the “Collection” at the top of the page to access the search screen for the Rare Books and Old Materials collection.
  2. Click on “All search conditions” and check “E-zu (Maps and Plans)” in the Subcategories field.
  3. Search by typing the region name (example: Japan, world, former province name, city name, etc.) in Japanese in the Old Material Classifications field.
    Example: “日本” (Japan), “世界” (world), “江戸” (Edo)

If you are unable to find the materials using the search method above, please consider using the following alternative methods.

  1. Select “Rare Books and Old Materials” from “Collection” at the top page to access the search screen for the Rare Books and Old Materials collection.
  2. Click on “All search conditions” and check “E-zu (Maps and Plans)” in the Subcategories field.
  3. Search by typing “地図・絵図” in the Old Material Classifications field.
  4. If the search results are too numerous, refine your search by typing place names, country names, or region names in the keyword field and searching again.

1-3. Searching with Printed Catalogs

If the title is known

If the title is unknown

  • Teikoku toshokan wakan tosho bunrui mokuroku Chishi oyobi kiiko no bu (Classified catalog of Japanese and Chinese books in the Imperial Library: Geography and Travel Section) (Revised and Expanded Edition, Imperial Library, 1902, NDL Call No. 029.1-Te143t2-(t)) (NDL Digital Collections)
  • Teikoku toshokan wakanjo kenmei mokuroku (Subject catalog of Japanese and Chinese books in the Imperial Library) (Imperial Library, 1905-1909)
    Part 1, Part 2

2. How to Use

3. Related Information