LYMAN, Benjamin Smith. Geological and Topographical Maps of the Oil Lands of Japan. 1882. 1765 x 1130 mm. Monumental folding map dissected in 25 linen-backed sections. Paper slightly browned. Important and monumental bilingual map at a scale of 1:60,000, published in 1882, devoted to the oil-producing regions of Japan. It was issued in a unique 19th-century Japanese-American collaboration spurred by the Meiji agenda to modernize, expand access to fossil fuels, and drive industrialization. It was prepared by the American geologist Benjamin Smith Lyman and a team of Japanese colleagues. The map's size, its lack of publication information, and the high level of technical detail underscore its purpose as an internal government and industrial document. The main map covers the area roughly between Nagano and Niigata, northwest of Tokyo, and the districts of Minochi, Kubiki, Kariha, Uonuma, and Mishima. This was the only region of significant oil reservoirs outside of Hokkaidō. At the bottom right is a map of Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku, shading the region shown on the main map and situating it within Japan. There are eight inset maps at left showing areas with less significant oil reservoirs in Ugo Province, Echigo Province, and Tōtōmi Province. At top-left are explanatory notes on the representation of sections and type of rock, while a more general legend ('Explanation of signs') sits at bottom-right. Hokkaidō and the Kaitakushi : Lyman was hired by the Japanese government in 1872 to survey areas of oil and coal deposits on Hokkaidō, then part of a northern frontier known as Ezo (often written as Yesso in Western sources). Prior to the 19th century, portions of Ezo and the Ainu people who lived there were under the loose control of feudal lords, but the size of the territory, the harshness of the climate and terrain, and the low population density meant that much of Ezo was beyond the reach of Japanese samurai and daimyo. When the Tokugawa government became concerned that Russia might seize Hokkaidō in the early 19th century, they became more interested in mapping and controlling the island. When the Tokugawa fell, the Meiji government, even more aware of Japan's gap with Western powers, quickly imported foreign experts, including Lyman, to help develop mining and agricultural colonies on Hokkaidō. The island proved to be a source of resources essential to Japan's industrialization, including coal, timber, and arable land. The Hokkaidō Development Commission (Kaitakushi) organized these efforts and brought in tens of thousands of migrants from other parts of Japan in a race to colonize it before it could be claimed by Russia. These measures had the desired effect, but were devastating for the Ainu of Hokkaidō, who were forcibly assimilated and lost much of their traditional culture. During his long stay on Hokkaidō, Lyman, who was something of an amateur anthropologist of the Ainu, regularly worked with the Kaitakushi, though their relations were often strained. Lyman and the Geological Survey of Japan Lyman had already left Japan by the time this map was produced, but he and his Japanese colleagues had spent much of the previous decade surveying and writing reports about the allocation of fossil fuels and other natural resources in Japan, particularly Hokkaidō. Lyman's Japanese collaborators, including those involved in this map's production, were the first generation of Japanese geologists and natural resource surveyors trained in modern methods. They were instrumental in forming the Geological Survey of Japan in 1878 as an office in the Ministry of Home Affairs. Lyman encouraged the group's founding and donated his home as their headquarters when he left Japan in 1879. Benjamin Smith Lyman (December 11, 1835 – August 30, 1920) was an American mining engineer, geologist, surveyor, and scholar in several fields, including Asian cultures and languages. After graduating from Harvard with a law degree, Lyman went to work with his uncle, who was the Director of the Geological Survey of Pennsylvania. His interest piqued, Lyman continued to work on geographic surveys in the United States, Europe, and eventually Asia. Lyman was hired by the Japanese government to survey Hokkaido with Japanese colleagues, who later formed the Geological Survey of Japan. Lyman stayed in Japan for six years and published several works on the Japanese language and Japanese culture. After returning to the U.S., he maintained an active scholarly life, publishing works about Japan, geology, moral philosophy, and vegetarianism, among other topics. Geological Survey of Japan (1878 - present) was originally an office within the Japanese government's Ministry of Home Affairs and later other government ministries before becoming an independent organization (in 2001. It its early years, it played an important role in developing Japan's energy resources during the crash course of modernization during the Meiji era. It focused in particular on resource-rich Hokkaido (then known as Ezo, a term referring to Japan's entire northern frontier) and was closely affiliated with the Hokkaidō Development Commission (Kaitakushi).