Historical GIS research on the compositions and the genealogy of published maps in the modern and early modern period

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K13580
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Human geography
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima
• Principal Investigator: TSUKAMOTO Akihiro 徳島大学, 大学院社会産業理工学研究部(社会総合科学域), 准教授 (90608712)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 歴史GIS / 絵図・古地図 / 歴史地理 / GIS / 都市 / 構図 / 近世 / 近代

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The purpose of this study is twofold: 1) to build digital archives and GIS databases with published maps; and 2) to examine changes and the evolution of published maps for the cities of Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto in Japan between the Edo period and the Meiji period.
I first created digital image databases using collections of published maps from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, and made the archive publicly available on the World Wide Web. Next, The historical maps were then assessed in greater detail to identify significant errors and inaccuracies. The maps drawn of Osaka and Edo during this era took land survey results into consideration, the maps for Kyoto followed the same layout as used since the 17th century. I used GIS spatial analysis functionality to perform an analysis of their accuracy, thereby assessing the extent to which cartographers were able, or allowed, to reflect details on paper sheets, clarifying city layouts.

Free Research Field

歴史GIS、地理情報システム、歴史地理

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

国内における歴史GIS研究は、デジタルアーカイブデータを蓄積するためのプラットフォームの構築に主眼が置かれていた。基盤構築の拡張に加えて、歴史GIS研究の進展のためには、歴史地理学の伝統的な手法や成果を踏まえ、地理的分布や歴史的な背景とを統合して考察する視点とGISの分析機能を融合させた高度な歴史GIS研究の成果を蓄積していく必要があった。
本研究は、近世・近代出版図を対象にGISの幾何的分析機能を活用することで、古地図に描かれた都市の構図の変遷を分析し、出版図の系譜を再検証するといった、GISを援用して古地図研究・歴史地理学のフレームワークを張するもので、学術的意義のあるものと考える。