Mamiya’s Maps

This book provides a much-needed addition to north Pacific history that heretofore is known primarily to readers of academic monographs, conference papers, and rare books on the shelves of cartographers and maritime historians. It is wonderfully illustrated as a manga to reach a wider audience that will appreciate an introduction to a rarely visited region of northeast Asia and informative on the indigenous peoples in the story.

This reviewer, the “American Visitor” to the Mamiyo Rinzo birthplace museum in 2003 (see page 96) and to the explorer’s monument at Cape Soya in 2012, has long wanted to visit Sakhalin Island but terminated trip planning due to pandemic and political complexities that restricted travel to this area in recent years.

Currently snowed in by the fireplace at home I enjoyed a vicarious expedition to the region by reading this very interesting and out of the ordinary historical manga. Mamiya’s Maps became my guidebook to follow into a history accurately told by the author and presented with the artist’s captivating illustrations of the wildlife, landscapes, and the Ainu and Nivkh peoples where our Samurai hero Mamiya Rinzo met them and mapped their homeland.

The reading experience and my perusal of every page was most enjoyable, and I celebrated the expedition’s arrival at the Qing Chinese trading settlement of Deren on the Amur River with a cup of Chinese tea. Reflecting on the return journey and after-expedition impact of Mamiya Rinzo, the story continues to this day with the narrative and images from this manga that bring attention to indigenous people of the region and the story of intercultural contact to be shared after centuries of omission.