The 19th-century cartography was highly evolved, accurate and far more authentic as compared to its predecessors. The European mapping of Africa was filled with dozens of mispronunciations but their geographical proximities were accurate to some degree. This means Egypt was placed where Egypt actually is, Nubia was marked correctly, Axum and Adel were placed in Ethiopia and Somalia respectively, and so on. But there were some countries whose maps remained inaccurate, incorrect even till the end of the nineteenth century. The two countries in talks are Japan and Korea; nations whose knowledge to the European world remained unknown largely so much so that Korean settlements were hardly visible on any of these maps. Both Japan and Korea are found to be marked vaguely as a bunch of islands (for Japan) and a narrow strip of land near Manchuria (referring to Korea). It's ironic as these two civilisations had flourished pre-medieval ages and both Korea and Japan hold prominent positions in Asian as well as world history.
The situation of the Korean angle is understandable as when the modern-age cartographers sailed from Europe in search of territories unknown to them, Korea was a tributary state under the Chinese Qing dynasty. A short-lived Korean Empire did exist but mostly towards the end of the 19th century, soon after which it was annexed by the Japanese again. Moreover, even during the modern era, Korea's fate hung between the mighty Chinese and Japanese realms at various points in history.
On the earliest modern-era maps of the 17th century, the Korean peninsula is misinterpreted as a long-shaped island, marked as Corea or Caoli. Japan, on the contrary (although heavily ill-shaped), is mostly mentioned as Iapan and only the island of Honshu is seemed to believe as the mainland Japan. Even more difficult is to relate the names of settlements on both Japan and Korean lands to what they are today as their spellings are highly mispronounced and almost alien. Settlements such as Meaco (Miyako, former name for Kyoto), Mino (in Gifu prefecture), Hiamato (Yamato?), Deva (possibly referring to the former Deva Kings), Nagato, Villoxu, Figen etc. on the Japanese part while a single settlement of Corij on Korea can be found on several maps, another mispronunciation of westerns for Korea (denoting the Goryeo Dynasty from where the country derived its name).
Moving on to the 18th-century maps where names are a bit more familiar than before. Japan is mentioned by its synonymous name Niphon (for Nippon) and the four major islands are mentioned as Niphon (for Honshu), Xicoco (Shikoku), Ximo (Kyushu) and Yeddo or Yedso (Hokkaido). Honshu itself is divided into smaller regions such as Jamaisoit (Chugoku), Jetsen (Kansai), Jetsegen (Chubu), Quanto (Kanto) and Ochio (Tohuko). Korea is mentioned as Coree with its sub-divisions such as Pingngan (Pyongyang / P'yŏngan, North Korea), Hien-King (Hamgyong, North Korea), Kiang-Yuen (Gangwon, South Korea), Kingki, Tchuenlo, Tchucin, etc.
By the mid-19th century, although maps were slightly improved, certain names of Japanese and Korean cities were more accurate than before. On certain German maps of this era, names such as King-Ki-Tao (referring to Seoul), Hoang-Hai (Hwanghae region of North Korea and the Yellow Sea), Ku Fu Kum, Tsuanlo (Chŏlla / Jeolla, in South Korea), King Schan (Kyŏngsang / Gyeongsang, in South Korea), etc. appear on the Korean mainland. Whereas on the Japanese side, one would spot spellings such as Nangasaki (Nagasaki), Simonosaki (Shimonoseki), Nakamura (in Nagoya), Osaca (Osaka), Miako (Miyako / Kyoto), Tottori, Jeddo (Edo, former name of Tokyo), Matsmai (Matsumae) etc. One would see accuracy greatly improved towards the end of the 19th-century maps of Korea and Japan with proper naming and pronunciation.
Highlighting a world map sketched by Aaron Arrowsmith, whose maps are highly accurate and precise, dating 1808, Japan is shown as broken pieces of islands scattered near the Sea of Japan (mentioned as Gulf of Corea) such as Nipon, Ximo and Sikoco combined together under 'Islands of Japan', whereas fragmented islands such as Matsoomae, Kunaschir, Urup and the Three Sisters clubbed under 'Islands of Jesso'. When compared to their actual names, Matsumae is the southernmost town on the Hokkaido island whereas Kunashir and Urup form part of the Kuril Islands group, disputed between Japan and Russia. Aaron Arrowsmith's maps of Asian countries are known to be highly accurate and even on this edition, barring Japan and Korea, all other Asian territories are marked correctly. Another set of island-chain that is shown on this map is the Ryukyu Group marked as Liqueo Islands, forming a bridge between the Japanese islands and Formosa (modern-day Taiwan). Korea, on the other hand, is mentioned as Corea, part of the Chinese Empire with Seoul marked as Kinkitao. One tiny island to the south of South Korea, called Jeju Island, is throughout marked as Quelpart Island, a name that even appears on today's maps, making it one of those few Oriental places whose name has been consisted throughout.
Below here is attached the recreated version of Aaron Arrowsmith's 1808 map.
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