Missionary map of Japan and Taiwan (1904)

This map, compiled by Henry Mohr Landis, was published by the Methodist Publishing House in Tokyo in 1904 as a working tool for Protestant missionaries in Japan.

Christianity was legalised in Japan in 1873, at which time the Methodist Episcopal Church was established. By 1904, when this map was published, the network had grown extensive enough to require a visual aid to facilitate coordination. That very year also coincided with the election of the first resident Methodist bishop in Japan, Merriman C. Harris.

The centre of the map shows the islands of Honshu, Kyushu and Shikoku, with inset boxes around them dedicated to Hokkaido, Taiwan, the Kuril Islands, the Bonin Islands, the Okinawa archipelago, a detailed map of the Osaka region, a detailed map of the Tokyo region, another of the city of Tokyo, and a general map of the region.

In the top right-hand corner is a key explaining the meaning of each symbol: red for villages with a church, and white or black for those without. In addition, the railway and the main sea routes are shown with red lines.

Although it is not a propaganda map, it does reveal a clear geographical pattern of Protestant evangelisation in the region. All the towns with churches are situated alongside railway lines and in the cities served by the main sea routes. In inland areas, almost all towns lack a church presence, which is due more to difficulties of access than to religious resistance.

Milhaud Maps

Missionary map of Japan and Taiwan (1904)

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