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A finely printed travel map of Kyūshū produced at the height of Japan’s Meiji modernization, lithographed and printed in Tokyo for one of the most widely used English-language guidebooks of the early 20th century. The map shows all major cities, rail lines, roads, ports, and volcanic features of the southernmost of Japan's four main islands, rendered with elegant hypsometric tints and hachuring that give a clear sense of relief. Red overprinting highlights the completed sections of the Kyūshū Railway, including the coastal trunk lines from Moji through Hakata to Nagasaki, the inland passage via Kumamoto, and the early reaches toward Miyazaki.

Though titled with the modern name "Kyūshū," the map retains pre-Meiji provincial divisions such as Chikuzen, Hizen, Satsuma, and Hyūga, reflecting both the ongoing cultural relevance of the kuni system and the interests of Western readers encountering historical references. A number of volcanic features are named and emphasized visually, including Aso-san, Kirishima, and the island volcano Sakurajima, just east of Kagoshima. Pilgrimage destinations (e.g. Hiko-san), hot springs (notably Unzen), and key steamer ports are marked.

The map was issued in the eighth edition of Murray’s Handbook, by then under the editorship of Basil Hall Chamberlain and W. B. Mason. Earlier editions of the guide had relied on European engravers, but this example reflects Murray’s growing reliance on Japanese firms capable of matching Western standards of color lithography while incorporating precise local knowledge. Tōyōdō, one of Tokyo’s premier commercial map engravers, produced a clean, cosmopolitan image for foreign travelers that nonetheless remains grounded in Japanese geographical categories.

Of particular historical interest is the map’s depiction of Kyūshū's infrastructure at a moment of transition: the final year before the full nationalization of the private railways (1906–07), and just prior to the 1914 eruption of Sakurajima, which would significantly alter the southern landscape. It thus captures a brief but critical window in the island’s transformation into a modern industrial and touristic region, linked by rail, steamship, and an expanding foreign readership.

A highly appealing and compact Meiji-era map, emblematic of cross-cultural travel publishing: British in conception, Japanese in execution, and reflecting the expanding global itineraries of the early 20th century.