Tōkaidō in Modern Representation

Location

King Building 241

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-27-2018 5:30 PM

End Date

4-27-2018 6:50 PM

Abstract

This project examines the representation of the Tōkaidō road in a modern travel book published in 2000, and compares the book to an accordian map from the Edo period (1603-1868). As one of the crucial roads in Japan since the Edo period, the Tōkaidō road was closely associated with travel, either for political, leisure, or pilgrimage purposes. The mingling of people from different classes made the road a unique space, where commoner’s culture flourished. The road was represented in many forms, including maps, travel guides, and ukiyo-e prints. The modern travel book adapts some conventions of spatial representations in traditional print media; in its content the history embodied in the locales is also the defining character of the road. On the other hand, the process of modernisation has altered the ways Tōkaidō is approached in the book. The construction of the national railway system, the booming consumer culture, and the travel campaigns in the late 1900s all have exerted influence on the itinerary offered by the travel book. This project tries to investigate how Tōkaidō’s historical importance and modern means of travel influence the spatial representation in the book, as well as the Japanese self-identification during the virtual or actual travel on this road.

Keywords:

Japan, print culture, cultural studies, spatial representation

Notes

Session VII, Panel 21 - Sustainable | Geographies
Moderator: Chie Sakakibara, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies

Major

East Asian Studies; Comparative Literature

Advisor(s)

Hsiu-Chuang Deppman, East Asian Studies

Project Mentor(s)

Ann Sherif, East Asian Studies

April 2018

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Apr 27th, 5:30 PM Apr 27th, 6:50 PM

Tōkaidō in Modern Representation

King Building 241

This project examines the representation of the Tōkaidō road in a modern travel book published in 2000, and compares the book to an accordian map from the Edo period (1603-1868). As one of the crucial roads in Japan since the Edo period, the Tōkaidō road was closely associated with travel, either for political, leisure, or pilgrimage purposes. The mingling of people from different classes made the road a unique space, where commoner’s culture flourished. The road was represented in many forms, including maps, travel guides, and ukiyo-e prints. The modern travel book adapts some conventions of spatial representations in traditional print media; in its content the history embodied in the locales is also the defining character of the road. On the other hand, the process of modernisation has altered the ways Tōkaidō is approached in the book. The construction of the national railway system, the booming consumer culture, and the travel campaigns in the late 1900s all have exerted influence on the itinerary offered by the travel book. This project tries to investigate how Tōkaidō’s historical importance and modern means of travel influence the spatial representation in the book, as well as the Japanese self-identification during the virtual or actual travel on this road.