Japan: 'Plan de Jedo', Map of Edo (Old Tokyo), Bellin and Schley, Paris, c. 1752

Published by Bellin and Schley for Prevost's' Histoire Generale des Voyages', this map is cartographically based on a 1702 map of the same issued by Scheuchzer and Kaempfer, which itself is most likely based on Japanese maps.

Centered on Edo Castle, this map depicts the whole of Edo as it existed, with numerous streets shown but not named. Edo Castle itself is fancifully depicted as a French style formal garden. Possibly due to the cartographers inability to translate Japanese, the only three named locations on the map are Edo Castle, Japan Bridge, and the Faubourg de Sinagawa.

From the establishment of the Tokugawa bakufu's headquarters at Edo, although Kyoto remained the formal capital of the country, the de facto capital was now Edo; it was the center of political power. Edo grew from what had been a small, little-known fishing village in 1457 to a metropolis with an estimated population of 1,000,000 by 1721, the largest city in the world at the time.

The city was laid out as a castle town around Edo Castle. The Sumida River (then called the Great River, 大川), ran along the eastern edge of the city. The 'Japan Bridge' (日本橋, Nihon-bashi) marked the center of the city's commercial center.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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