-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: MAPS-L: maps of japan Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 12:53:17 -0800 (PST) From: xh zhang <[log in to unmask]> To: Maps, Air Photo & Geospatial Systems Forum <[log in to unmask]> Dear all, Dr.Whyte is absolutely right. There is no sheet number on the existing 200K,50K,25K topo/geo indices, which makes those who can not read Japanese or can not access to Japanese speakers a little bit difficult to use these maps. I have spent several hours trying to figure out the corresponding sheet number for every single sheet for all 50K Topos. I believe it will help to locate the 25K maps as well. Those who are interested can access the index through: Go to: www.cartographic.com <http://www.cartographic.com/> Choose: Select Products Through Interactive Map: Topographic Maps Select: Japan from country list Select: Topographic from product category Select: 1:50,000 from scale Select: JAPAN 1:50k You will find the index. More indices like these will be added in the future. Hope it helps. Thanks. Xiaohong -------------------------- Xiaohong Zhang Map librarian East View Cartographic 3020 Harbor Lane North, Minneapolis, MN, 55447 (763)550-0965 [log in to unmask] <http:[log in to unmask]> www.cartographic.com <http://www.cartographic.com/> ------------------ Otherwise the Japanese Survey dept has free sheet indexes, one for geological and one for topo maps. Map sellers will have these and give them to you free also. But neither of these indexes, nor the atlas index above, has sheet numbers... you have to work these out yourself! --------------- Only the 10k maps have a sheet name in Roman letters as well as Kanji, but neither index above gives these. Central Yokohama is covered by sheet "Kannai". Central Tokyo by "Shinjuku" (contains western edge of palace), "Nihonbashi" (contains Tokyo sta! tion, Ginbza, most of Imperial palace), "Ueno" and "Ikebukuro". --------------- Of the 25k maps, three cover the three Volcano Islands, Japabn's most outlying possessions: NG-54-16-12-3.4 covers Kita (ie north) Iwo Jima island and is titled "Kita Iwo Jima" (in Kanji, not Romanji!) NG-54-17-12-1.3.4 covers the famous WW2-battleground island of Iwo Jima, and is titled "Iwo Jima". Apparently the island is off-limits to visitiors still, due to unexploded ordnance from WW2... NG-54-18-11-2 covers Minami (ie South) Iwo Jima and has insets for Minami Tori Shima (Marcus Island), and Okino-tori-shima [Parece Vela](a reef way SW of Iwo Jima) and shows the concrete structures designed to keep the 'island' above water! The sheet is titloed "Minami Iwo Jima" ------------------- A very useful and excellently drawn free map of Tokyo is "Bilingual ma p of Greater Tokyo" produced by the Japan Hotel Association, Tokyo Branch. I got mine at the tourist info counte! r at Keisei Ueno railway station. --------- The best map shop in Tokyo is the "Japan Map Center", a short walk (1km?) west from Shinjuku station http://www.jmc.or.jp/ (Japanese only) The staff spoke no English when I visited, and they file the maps by name, not number, but I had no problems buying maps. All the 200k, 50k and 25k maps are kept as samples is large ringbinders held in a vertical rack, with an index on the cover. So just locate what you want, show the staff and they will pull out a copy to sell you. The shop has lots of plastic relief maps, geophysical maps, aerial photos, etc. It sells only Japan maps, not foreign material, as far as I could see. --------------- Dr Brendan Whyte Geography Department Faculty of Social Sciences Hebrew University of Jerusalem Mt Scopus Jerusalem 91905 ISRAEL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bring words and photos together (easily) with PhotoMail <http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail_us/taglines/PMHM3/*http://photomail.mail.yahoo.com> - it's free and works with Yahoo! Mail.