JAPAN AND KOREA, c1861.

Published by The Hydrographic Office

This reproduction is taken from an original document, held within the Archives of the UK Hydrographic Office, Taunton, Somerset.

For centuries Japan had been relatively isolated from the rest of the world and European knowledge of its geography was very limited. This chart of Japan and Korea was the first produced by the Hydrographic Office and was complied from the most accurate surveys available at the time. The work is largely based on Krusenstern's chart of 1827, with additional information coming from British, Prussian, French and Dutch surveys of the area.

This chart was probably used for passage planning purposes during the Meiji period, when Japan began to open its borders to European and American trade.