Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
There are cases in which maps are fi ctional, but for the most part maps and aerial
photos are depictions of actual spaces. Maps are expressions of spaces that depict
things according to fi xed rules, the “language of maps,” which differs somewhat
from human cognitive space. Stations, railway lines, and major arterial routes are
represented with somewhat exaggerated sizes. Aside from pictorial maps and those
made for a particular purpose (e.g., advertising fl yers for real estate), maps gener-
ally do not contain many exaggerations.
Conversely, human cognitive space is riddled with exaggeration and distortion
of real space. We tend to exagerrate the size of a place we are familiar with, and
we underestimate the distances between familiar locations while unfamiliar or
alien places seem farther away. Applied to an international context, countries like
North Korea, Iran, and Afghanistan are somehow more challenging to locate in
one's own world view. Cognitive space is imprecise and a product of a psycho-
logical phenomenon, which starkly reveals differences in one's knowledge. Maps
and globes take on the role of correcting inaccuracies in our cognitive space,
bringing it closer to reality. To accurately picture a place in our mind means to
have visited the place. If we can create a mental map of our immediate surroundings,
we feel more secure.
If we can recognize a place from a certain characteristic or items that we perceive
to be relevant to the surrounding places, then we can develop a more complete
picture of that place (Teramoto and Ohnishi
2004
). Human beings can probably
preserve their inherent sense of stability by going further than simply viewing scenery
and objects in their surroundings along their behavioral pathways from a fl at,
sideways perspective. Nevertheless, people today tend to commute daily over the
same fi xed route, by car or train. Humans can feel more secure in their surroundings
when they can imagine their route and landmarks along the way. For example, a
person's awareness of multiple routes to their workplace and the ability to access an
internal survey map that provides an aerial perspective is the essence of a map-like
cognitive space. What is popularly called “hometown awareness” is also related to
acquiring this kind of survey map. In this sense, cognitive space that includes maps
and globes has a personal application. If one can make a map out of the cognitive
space in one's mind, it would probably have a different appearance than a fl at map
or globe. Compared with these, a cognitive map has disparities in the amount of
information perceived. A map represents the same level or volume of information
across an areal extent, but a map of cognitive space is less complete.
People's cognitive space evolves with time and our interaction with space. When
Japanese people fi rst saw world maps and globes, they must have asked themselves
questions like, “Is Japan really such a small island country?” or “Are we really a
small country between big countries?” or “Do we have four seasons because we're
located at mid latitude?”
If we compare the extent of cognitive spaces of Japanese people from the Edo
through Meiji periods with those of people today, the former would have an affi nity
to maps and globes. If one looks at the globe and world map used in Kaichi
Elementary School in the city of Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture, one of the oldest
elementary schools in Japan, we can see how much the Japanese people of earlier
times would have wished to have an accuate view of the world.
