March Entry: Snow Country

[Gamerprinter]

Apparently one of the last times I was reworking the compass rose, I inadvedantly bumped one of the elements above it. The tannery, which is the building just up from the compass rose on the other side of the river bank. If you notice the previous map the lineart doen't lineup with the color elements beneath it. So I straightened that out - good to go, now.

GP

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[Redrobes]

Nice map GP but the caves... the arrow on the main map points up the north river but the inset shows a separate tributary along the west. Also - and theres no reason to follow it - the real map shows the caves being up that north tributary.

[Gamerprinter]

Except the arrow, which points north west really, is on the west bank of that river, the direction does not necessarily follow the river, though it is in the same direction as the river is initially going as it appears in the map. Perhaps I should place a crossing on the regional map further up that road beside that river. But I also did not place any roads in that map. So while I agree the inference is to follow that river - I'm really just pointing at the direction of the caves, not the river.

Curious thought, though.

GP

[ravells]

That's a stunner GP...great work!!

[Gamerprinter]

On a gallery site where I posted the final map entry, someone asked me about those round rice fields I have featured in this map. So I dug out a "coffee table" book on Japan Country Living and scanned some photos to show what they really look like. While I was at it, I scanned an interior of one of those farmhouses (grant you, this has been modernized somewhat) to get an idea of what they looked like inside...

Enjoy!

GP

[Gamerprinter]

The art brief seemed so busy, I completely missed the labeling requirement, instead tried to shoot for obvious buildings to comply with the required places of Iwaizumi. In the first brief, some of the possible buildings/locations in the village seemed like suggestions, not requirements, so in some cases I didn't put in obvious versions of those suggested sites - like the beekeeper (more on this below.)

Not being able to find the specific names of the two rivers surrounding Iwaizumi - a tour bus guide to the national parks near the village, named the Nakatsugawa River as the east-west river, as it is the same river flowing through the prefecture's capital east of Iwaizumi. However the Kitakami river is just one of the other main rivers in Iwate prefecture, so I am unsure if the smaller river shown is that one or not, I just picked it out of a list of available rivers in that district.

All the fields surrounding Iwaizumi are rice fields, there are no wheat fields, as wheat was not introduced to Japan, until the arrival of the Portuguese in the mid 1400's, about 150 years after the specific date for this map (1287). In fact the Japanese word for bread is "pan" which is the Spanish/Portugeuse name for bread, also introduced at that later time. So the map does not feature a commodity that does not yet exist in Japan.

Note: the rice mill on the Nakatsugawa River is for the production of Imoche - which is a gooey rice paste used for frying and as a kind of bread to contain various other food, for "pastries and maet pies." Wheat would not be grown or milled for 150 years yet.

Beekeeping has been practiced by the Japanese since at least the 8th century. At that time, it was creating hollowed out logs near actual beehives found in ravines and valleys in the mountainous of Japan, where the colony could split and grow. By the 12th century, most every farmer (in the right regions) kept a tub under the eave of their roof to keep a honey bee nest. The more familiar warre-box beekeeping, as done in modern beekeeping was not used in Japan until the mid 1500's during the start of the Edo period (which is 300 years after the period the village is set.)

As a cartographer going for historical accuracy, I'd say every farmhouse in this village has a tub under its eave containing a bee nest - which is hidden under the eave so not viewable from this perspective as a map, but does exist in this village.

So that which is missing has been done to maintain historic accuracy, and acknowledging that the original possible buildings to include, were suggestions only.

Other details, the location of the torii gate in front of the Shinto Shrine is accurate for all such shrines. As noted earlier in this thread, temples are the worship area of Buddhism which is not a polythiestic belief system as it is for Shintoism (8 million gods...), thus the art brief suggested a "shrine for the worshipping local gods" can only describe a Shinto Shrine. Thus pagodas and temples are not consistent with a Shinto Shrine. The stone gate is the only traditional edifice for a shinto shrine and not required for all such shrines, which is primarily a contained natural beauty site - spring, waterfall, giant rock, or other unique natural place.

To the best of my ability and research, this village complies to what might actually be recognized as and found in a Japanese village in the late 13th century.

I hope that my entry now complies to the rules of the Challenge.

GP

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[ravells]

Super reply, GP. And very educational.

But regardless of the facts, the publisher commissions the work! So I guess if he wants a tudor house in 14C Japan...then that's what we have to draw.