Discover an authentic Meiji-era edition of "Yochi Shiryaku" (輿地誌略), Japan’s first major world geography book, compiled by the celebrated scholar Uchida Masao (内田正雄) in the early 1870s. This work played a central role in introducing global geography, cultures, and ethnographic knowledge to Japan during the beginning of the Meiji Restoration.
This volume—巻之二 (Volume 2)—contains rich descriptions and woodblock-printed maps of regions such as:
India, Persia, Arabia, Central Asia, and Western China
Detailed world geography presented in early Meiji cartographic style
Explanations of climate, population, religion, customs, and trade
Early ethnographic illustrations showing traditional clothing, hairstyles, and cultural practices
Botanical and zoological images, including crocodiles and tropical plants
"Yochi Shiryaku" was a revolutionary educational text used in Japan’s first modern schools. These books documented the world beyond Japan just as the country was emerging from centuries of isolation. Today, they serve as invaluable historical artifacts reflecting Meiji Japan’s transformation and curiosity about the outside world.
This antique woodblock-printed volume is ideal for collectors of Japanese cartography, Meiji education, ethnography, antique maps, and early modernization history.
HIGHLIGHTS
Original Meiji-era "Yochi Shiryaku" (輿地誌略) Volume 2
Compiled by Uchida Masao, a key Meiji scholar
Includes world maps of India, Persia, Central Asia, China
Ethnographic illustrations of clothing, customs, peoples
Essential document of Japan’s early modern education
Scarce and historically important 19th-century geography book
