著者

PAN Mengfei

出版者

International Research Center for Japanese Studies

雑誌

Japan Review : Journal of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies (ISSN:09150986)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.37, pp.123-150, 2022-12

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This article examines a case of community mapping in the late Meiji period to illustrate how a cartographic work represented a symbolic community centered around the neighborhood of Negishi in Tokyo. It focuses on the Tōkyō Shitaya Negishi oyobi kinbō-zu, a map compiled by the Negishi Club in 1900, and investigates the symbolic community surrounding it. The Negishi Club was a group of local residents established by the lexicographer and linguist Ōtsuki Fumihiko in 1899. Previous studies of historical cartography have paid attention to how maps served political authorities or helped forge the nation. This case is useful in illuminating the dynamic production of place at another scale, that of the community itself. The article argues that the mapping conducted by these mapmakers-cum-residents not only reflected their interest in local history, but also their cognitive and sentimental images of the Negishi community and alternative social values. During the course of their community mapping, a symbolic community took form, and a local place became the symbolic referent. It thus shows how the symbolism of community mapping contributed to the reinvention of the local place and the identity of its members. The article adds to our understanding of the production of place in Japan in the late Meiji period. More broadly, it refines the concept of community mapping by elucidating the symbolic aspects of community and its historical validity.