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Japanese Map of Oahu Hinting at the Japanese Interests in Taking Hawaii

Rare Japanese map of Oahu, illustrating the defensive positions of the American military on the island.

The map is drawn from an earlier English language map with overprinting in Japanese to illustrate military installations, including Fort Shafter, Diamond Head, and the Schofield Barracks.

The printed information is updated in a contemporary hand, expanding and revising the information contained with blue pencil markings highlighting Waialua Bay, Waianae Landing, Barper's Point, and Kāneʻohe Bay.

Japanese Ambitions for Hawaii

It is unusual for a Japanese map of Oahu this early to focus on military defenses.

The map may have originally been published as historical document relating to Japanese dissatisfaction with the 1893 overthrow of the pro-Japanese Hawaiian monarchy by American marines and colonists. Fearing that the new government would not respect the rights of Japanese citizens in Hawaii, by then a large part of the population, they dispatched two warships, Naniwa and Takachiho, in a show of strength. When Hawaii was annexed into the United States, in 1898, Japan interpreted the move as an encroachment on Japan's own expansionist interests in the Pacific and potential claims on the strategically positioned archipelago.

The map's focus on American military instillations in Hawaii  illustrates Japanese interest in a military takeover of the island some 20 years later.

Pearl Harbor

The blue pencil annotation highlighting Waialua Bay, Waianae Landing, Barper's Point, and Kāneʻohe Bay was probably added after the 1941 Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. While Pearl Harbor has not been marked, the other areas highlighted were all secondary targets during the infamous air strike. 

Rarity

We are not aware of any other examples of this map.