Examining Wall Charts in Meiji and Taisho Periods in Tamagawa University Museum of Education

Abstract

A wall chart is a large educational illustration displayed on a classroom blackboard or wall. This article focuses on three historical wall charts published in the Meiji and Taisho periods － housed at the Tamagawa University Museum of Education － to examine each chartʼs artist, the chartsʼ relationship to textbooks, and the origin of the charts.It was found that the Japanese history artists KOBAYASHI Teiko and KOBORI Tomoto were involved in Nihon Rekishi Kakezu and Nihon Rekishi no Kakezu respectively, while Tomoto was also involved in illustrating textbooks of history and preparing wall charts for art appreciation. Rekishi-ka Kyoju-yo Sanko Kakezu (Reference Wall Charts for Teaching History) with high printing technology, published by the Historiographical Institute of the College of Letters of the Imperial University, were intended to establish a “standardized image” based on the original drawings. I concluded that large-format historical wall charts with high printing technology also served as teaching materials for art appreciation.