“A Study on the Maps Dedicated to the Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine by Takemori Dôetsu: Focusing on the World Map and the Nagasaki Map,”

The Journal of the Kyushu Society of Historical Research (Kyushu-Shigaku) 146,2006

[Abstract]

Takemori Dôetsu (1625-1699) was a Fukuoka samurai who dedicated 19 maps to the　library of the Dazaifu Tenmangû shrine in 1696 and 1698. Though most of his maps were lost from the library in the past, we can now identify at least 12 maps. There were rediscovered or kept in the form of old pictures. These 12 maps are categorized into three groups: (1) maps of foreign or quasi-foreign countries; (2) maps of Japan or Japanese metropolises; and (3) historical maps of Kyoto. Some of them are printed works sold in early modern Japan and others seem to be replicas painted by Fukuoka samurai-artist Ensei. Every map is highly appreciated based on its rarity and preciousness in our time. It is likely that even in contemporary days, they are valued highly.

In this article, I introduce a career of Dôetsu and his maps, particularly focusing on the World Map and the Nagasaki Map housed in the Peabody Essex Museum in the US, which have remained unexamined. Then, I examine the complicated relations between the historical context around Dôetsu and his actions to select, collect, copy, and dedicate those maps. Finally, I demonstrate that the most important factor that enabled Dôetsu’s deeds was the vibrant network of samurai-scholars facilitated by Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714) in the Fukuoka domain. In such context, Dôetsu could obtain rich information about his maps and make use of it, and also he was urged to dedicate maps to the shrine by a specific trend in the network.

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