Japanese world map. This world map,by Japanese cartographer Nagakubo Sekisui (1717-1801),dates from around 1785. It is based on the 1602 edition of Matteo Ricci's world map,which was published in China in 1584. It is a pseudocylindrical projection centred on the Pacific Ocean,with mountains shown pictorially. The main continents (Europe,Africa,Asia,the Americas) are mapped with reasonable accuracy,but the as-yet-undiscovered southern and Antarctic land masses are represented as 'Magellanica' (also known as Terra Australis). Like the Ricci map,Nagakubo's map is a wood block print. The text at top is Japanese katakana script |