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Get to know the new ICA Executive Committee for the term 2023-2027

Map of the Month 7/2012: Kii – Kinki 360° panorama map

At the 25th International Cartography Conference in Paris, France, the map “Kii-Kinki 360° panorama map” won the first jury’s prize in the category Others. The jury stated:

Full 360° bird’s eye view as a next step in this Japanese panoramic design tradition.

Comment by the cartographer (Masaki Oda): All panorama maps from the workshop studio gTonbi-eye (eye of kites) have wide open view in perspective. Above all, the “Kii Kinki 360° map” has been realized the ultimate expanse of the landscape. The topography of Kii peninsula located in the center of the Japanese Islands is full of variety. The mountanious region of Kii, situated in the southern part of the peninsula, is one of the heaviest rain areas in Japan, and is mostly covered with dense forest. That is why it’s called “Ki-no-Kuni”, meaning “the Woody Land”. In the northern part of the peninsula, there are Osaka Plain and Nara Basin in the west, and Ise Plain in the east across low mountains and basins. To the north, you can see ancient city Kyoto surrounded by Omi Basin and Biwa Lake, Japan Sea beyond them. The viewpoint fixed in the center of Kii Peninsula enables this map to have both Macro Viewpoint of the whole landscape and Micro Viewpoint to watch each region in detail.

Recent times brought a great variety of digital map techniques to show scenaries and deliver informations. But I’ve desired to make my maps all by free hand. In illustrating maps, I’m always trying to draw the natural features peculiar to Japan. So I also add the delicate nuance of drawing by a brush to the lines of mountains’ ridge. I would be happy if you receive some kind of hand-made warmth.

  • Type of material: Paper
  • Scale: 1:50,000
  • Dimensions (mm): 400x3140
  • Author: Masaki Oda
  • Published by The Workshop Studio “Tonbi’s Eye (the Eye of Kite)”
  • Date published: 2009
  • Language: Japanese

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