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A detailed map of eastern China, showing parts of the densely populated Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces. Includes an inset map of both Nanjing and Shanghai. The map shows topography, roads, major cities, and more around this area.
Printed during the war, the map shows areas which were invaded in 1937. Since the invasion of Manchuria in 1931, small scale battles had been fought throughout parts of coastal China. After the Tungchow mutiny, Chinese forces under Chiang-Kai Sheck attacked Shanghai which was then nominally under Chinese control but with Japanese soldiers occupying the city. The International Settlement was heavily bombed in this initial stage of the battle. After being pushed out of the city, Japanese forces launched an amphibious takeover of the city, eventually managing to wrestle control back from the NRA forces in intense urban fighting. The Japanese army then marched to Nanjing, capital city of China at the time as marked on the map. This city fell rapidly the end of 1937 and witnessed the atrocities of the Nanjing massacre. The Japanese then tried to consolidate their gains, but were drawn into expanding the war in 1939 with increased Chinese resistance.
The map shows a reasonable level of detail in this densely populated area and was likely published for a general audience who followed the war effort at home. The inset maps are well-detailed. The names of all major arteries and districts are shown in both areas. Shanghai is shown all the way to the Yangtzhe along the Huangpu. The International Settlement is shown in pink and the French Concession is shown in purple, two areas which were of important historically to the city as well as during the invasion. It appears that densely populated Chinese areas are shown in grey, while much of the surrounding countryside is less densely built-up than it is today. Nanjing is shown with its historical district and parks.
The Osaka Daily News (Osaka Mainichi Shimbun) was one of the oldest Japanese newspaper publishers. While merging with the Tokyo Mainichi Shimbun in 1911, the two papers printed separately until 1943 meaning that the map must have been printed prior to the end of World War II.
