Abstract
1. Landscape Map of Great Kobe City is a bird's-eye view of Kobe planned and manufactured around 1935 by a daily newspaper of Kobe, “Yushin Nippo”. Under the advice and guidance of Professor Goro Ishibashi of Kyoto University and of Professor Shigeki Muramatsu of Gakushuin, Kazumasa Ono designed and constructed the map and Takeji Asano, artist of Japanese style picture, drew and painted it.
The map first passed censorship by the Army in 1937, but later its publication was prohibited because it was too detailed to be unclassified.
In 1979 parts of galley proof, preserved by Seiji Kayano, were made public by NHK. Later the wife of the late Eiji Kurushima, former employee of “Yushin Nippo”, presented a lot of materials related to planning and manufacturing of this landscape map. In these materials there are important sources to reveal the circumstances of Kobe in 1935.
2. In “guiding principle” of preparation of this map, written by professor Muramatsu, he showed big concern for landscape geography which dominated Europe and America during nineteen twenties and thirties and was introduced to Japan, referring to P.W. Bryan of England, S. Passarge of Germany and C.O. Sauer of United States. But he pointed out that the maps were not so well prepared in landscape geography of Europe and America and emphasized the desire to give a good pictorical expression in landscape map of Kobe based on scientific ground along the new tendency of geography. The method of fundamental investigation for preparation of maps was similar to the method of field investigation and the attitude to grasp landscape adopted by C.O. Sauer. This coincidence was not accidental and was reflection of the way of thinking of geography in the 1930's.
3. Utilizing this landscape map and related materials, the range of central core of city of Kobe around 1935 is confirmed. It was clarified that the central core was already functionally differentiated into districts for amusement and eating, administration, retail and trade business. This differentiation can be recognized also from landscape map. As every building was drawn like relief, the degree of high story can be estimated and the range of central core of the city has been delimited.
