Abstract
The purpose of this essay is to examine the history of Western-implemented surveys of the East Asian seas, focusing on Japan, and to consider the influence of these surveys on Japanese domestic history in the mid-nineteenth century. This era is known as the transition period from the collapse of the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate) to the Meiji Restoration. Throughout this period, the Western surveying ships actively collected hydrographic information in the East Asian seas, including Japanese waters. At first, the bakufu tried to reject their surveys. While constructing new relationships with Western states by treaties, the bakufu recognized the necessity of surveys for safe navigation. However, some daimyo (feudal lords) were dissatisfied with the bakufu’s diplomacy. Western-implemented surveys thereby resulted in a new internal conflict.
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Goto, A. (2021). Surveying and Mapping the Japanese Archipelago in the 19th Century. In: Akita, S., Liu, H., Momoki, S. (eds) Changing Dynamics and Mechanisms of Maritime Asia in Comparative Perspectives. Palgrave Studies in Comparative Global History. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2554-1_2
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