{{Italic title}} [[File:Echigo Takada Nagaoka Map in Tenpo era.jpg|thumb|A ''Tempō Kuniezu'' map of the Takada Domain and Nagaoka Domain]] The {{nihongo||国絵図|'''kuniezu'''|}} were a series of Japanese provincial land maps, created during the Edo period, which the Tokugawa shogunate ordered be created by every province.<ref>Traganeou, [https://books.google.com/books?id=asAinhbpsaQC&pg=RA1-PA37 p. 37 n26].</ref> They are sometimes contrasted with {{nihongo||日本図|nihonzu}}, which were national maps created by the shogunate.<ref>:ja:%E6%B1%9F%E6%88%B8%E5%B9%95%E5%BA%9C%E3%81%AE%E5%9C%B0%E5%9B%B3%E4%BA%8B%E6%A5%AD</ref>
In 1983, two of these map sets—the ''Genroku Kuniezu'' and the ''Tempō Kuniezu''—were designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan.<ref name="naj">National Archives of Japan (NAJ), [http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/gallery/view/category/categoryArchivesEn/0200000000/0201000000 "''Genroku Kuniezu''"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202211858/https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/gallery/view/category/categoryArchivesEn/0200000000/0201000000 |date=2013-02-02 }}; retrieved 2013-5-20.</ref><ref name="naj2">National Archives of Japan (NAJ), [http://www.digital.archives.go.jp/gallery/view/category/categoryArchivesEn/0200000000/0202000000 "''Tempō Kuniezu''"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130202211842/https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/gallery/view/category/categoryArchivesEn/0200000000/0202000000 |date=2013-02-02 }}; retrieved 2013-5-20.</ref>
==''Shōhō Kuniezu''== {{Expand section|date=May 2013|small=no}} Work on the {{nihongo||正保国絵図|Shōhō Kuniezu}} was started in 1644 [http://100.yahoo.co.jp/detail/%E6%AD%A3%E4%BF%9D%E5%9B%BD%E7%B5%B5%E5%9B%B3/].{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The original copy was destroyed by fire in 1873 :ja:%E6%AD%A3%E4%BF%9D%E5%9B%BD%E7%B5%B5%E5%9B%B3.
==''Genroku Kuniezu''== Work on the {{nihongo||元禄国絵図|Genroku Kuniezu}} began in 1696 (''Genroku 9'') and ended in 1702 (''Genroku 15'').<ref name="naj"/> The cadastral survey and mapping project was started and finished in the ''Genroku era''.<ref name="naj"/> It was the fourth official map of Japan.<ref name="traganeou">Traganeou, Jilly. (2004). ''The Tokaido Road: Traveling and Representation in Edo and Meiji Japan'', p. 230.</ref>
The scale of the maps reduced "ri" (3927m) to 6 "sun" (18 cm) [about 1/21,600 scale]. Each map showed mountains, rivers, roads and other landmarks.<ref name="naj"/> Road milestones and names of villages with recognized yields of rice were recorded. Castle towns were recorded with the names of local area and names of the lords of the castles.<ref name="naj"/>
The maps served as a comprehensive record of the region's statistics with legends showing colours of the counties and colour coding the yield of rice achieved from each county. Some maps even featured gridlines and the number of villages in each county featured on the bottom of the maps.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.digital.archives.go.jp/DAS/pickup/view/category/categoryArchivesEn/0300000000/0303000000/00 | title=Tempo Kuniezu }}</ref>
Some considered this set of maps as inferior to the previous ones which had been ordered. The ''Genroku'' maps were corrected in 1719 (''Kyōhō 4'').<ref name="traganeou"/>
This was the first complete set of provincial maps that included both Ezo and the Ryūkyū Kingdom,<ref>Fassbender, Bardo et al. (2012). [https://books.google.com/books?id=PI9nw2tQu4IC&dq=Genroku+Kuniezu&pg=PA483 ''The Oxford Handbook of the History of International Law,'' p. 483]; John Brian Harley ''et al.'' (1987). [https://books.google.com/books?id=7wYPAQAAMAAJ&q=Genroku+Kuniezu ''The History of Cartography,'' p. 397 n211]; excerpt, "The maps are reproduced in color in [https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/166629221 ''Ryūkyū kuniezu shiryōshū'' <nowiki>[琉球国絵図史料集]</nowiki>] (Collected historical materials of provincial maps of Ryūkyū)..., 1992.</ref> which at that time, was a vassal state of the Satsuma Domain.
==''Tempō Kuniezu''== {{Expand section|date=May 2013}} Work on the {{nihongo||天保国絵図|Tempō Kuniezu}} started in 1835 and ended in 1838.<ref name="naj2"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kuniezu}} Category:Maps of Japan Category:Important Cultural Properties (Japan) Category:17th-century maps and globes Category:19th-century maps and globes