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[[File:Sangoku-tsuran.JPG|right|thumb|400px|One of the maps from the ''Sangoku tsûran zusetsu'', showing Ryukyu, Taiwan, parts of China, Japan, the Korean peninsula, [[Ezo]], and parts of Russia, with colors indicating national/cultural boundaries.]]

[[File:Sangoku-tsuran.JPG|right|thumb|400px|One of the maps from the ''Sangoku tsûran zusetsu'', showing Ryukyu, Taiwan, parts of China, Japan, the Korean peninsula, [[Ezo]], and parts of Russia, with colors indicating national/cultural boundaries. Sakamaki-Hawley Collection, University of Hawaii Library.]]

*''Published: [[1785]]''

*''Published: [[1785]]''

*''Author: [[Hayashi Shihei]]''

*''Author: [[Hayashi Shihei]]''

*''Publisher: [[Suharaya Ichibee]]''

*''Publisher: [[Suwaraya Ichibei]]''

*''Japanese'': 三国通覧図説 ''(Sangoku tsuuran zusetsu)''

*''Japanese'': 三国通覧図説 ''(Sangoku tsuuran zusetsu)''

''Sangoku tsûran zusetsu'', or "Illustrated Outline of the Three Countries," is a publication written by [[Sendai]]-based Confucian scholar [[Hayashi Shihei]] describing the three "countries" closest to Japan - [[Ezo]], [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]], and Korea - with an eye to national defense, and especially coastal defense, through providing a resource to inform others about geography, and about these countries.

''Sangoku tsûran zusetsu'', or "Illustrated Outline of the Three Countries," is a publication written by [[Sendai]]-based Confucian scholar [[Hayashi Shihei]] describing the three "countries" closest to Japan - [[Ezo]], [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]], and Korea - with an eye to national defense, and especially coastal defense, through providing a resource to inform others about geography, and about these countries.

It was published by [[Suharaya Ichibee]] in [[1785]], a publisher based at [[Nihonbashi]], Kitamuro-chô sanchôme. The illustrated book is accompanied by five maps, depicting respectively Ezo, Ryûkyû, Korea, the [[Ogasawara Islands]], and the region as a whole (i.e. Japan and all its nearest neighbors). The latter is said to be the first Japanese map to depict all of Japan in a single color, distinguishing from other countries by different colors. A single shade of blue covers all of Kyûshû, Shikoku, Honshû, and part of Hokkaidô, the blue fading gradually into yellow at the fuzzy border between [[Matsumae han]]-controlled areas of Ezo and the [[Ainu]] lands beyond Japanese control. Yellows, blues, and reds are used to depict foreign lands, including the Ryûkyûs, the Ogasawara Islands, China - with several provinces labeled, Russia, and northern islands including [[Sakhalin]] and the [[Kuriles]].

It was published by [[Suwaraya Ichibei]] in [[1785]], a publisher based at [[Nihonbashi]], Kitamuro-chô sanchôme. The illustrated book is accompanied by five maps, depicting respectively Ezo, Ryûkyû, Korea, the [[Ogasawara Islands]], and the region as a whole (i.e. Japan and all its nearest neighbors). The latter is said to be the first Japanese map to depict all of Japan in a single color, distinguishing from other countries by different colors. A single shade of blue covers all of Kyûshû, Shikoku, Honshû, and part of Hokkaidô, the blue fading gradually into yellow at the fuzzy border between [[Matsumae han]]-controlled areas of Ezo and the [[Ainu]] lands beyond Japanese control. Yellows, blues, and reds are used to depict foreign lands, including the Ryûkyûs, the Ogasawara Islands, China - with several provinces labeled, Russia, and northern islands including [[Sakhalin]] and the [[Kuriles]].

The five maps are titled as follows:  

The five maps are titled as follows:  

Shortly after its publication, Hayashi was arrested and imprisoned for daring to suggest that the shogunate was insufficiently prepared, or insufficiently powerful, to defend the country, and for publishing ideas about national defense as someone other than a shogunate official.

Shortly after its publication, Hayashi was arrested and imprisoned for daring to suggest that the shogunate was insufficiently prepared, or insufficiently powerful, to defend the country, and for publishing ideas about national defense as someone other than a shogunate official.

The volume was taken out of publication in [[1791]], along with another volume he authored entitled ''Kaikoku heidan'' ("Discussion of the Military of a Maritime Nation").

The volume was taken out of publication in Japan in [[1791]], along with another volume he authored entitled ''Kaikoku heidan'' ("Discussion of the Military of a Maritime Nation"). A French translation was published in France, however, as early as [[1832]].

==References==

==References==