Ubiquitous Mapping

Maps are important vehicles for storytelling. Although the ubiquity of current web-mapping services has contributed greatly to the creation of map-based content, these services have also imposed restrictions on map representation. Conventional analog maps are still being created and remain widely used. Some of the most well-designed analog maps are highly contextual, and they are as such more suitable for storytelling with related backgrounds. To utilize analog maps in location-aware mobile environments for storytelling, local and dynamic georeferencing, which attaches geospatial information to analog map images without distorting the maps or destroying their artistic designs, is introduced. A data format, extended from a popular GIS data standard, was designed for creating and sharing storytelling content more easily by permitting the attachment of multimedia resources to georeferenced map images. In cooperation with local communities, prototype applications were developed and tested in walking tours to assist in the creation and browsing of map-based storytelling content.

GIS and geographic information science (GISc) have advanced at breakneck speed in the past 20 years evidenced by the growing popularity of 3D GIS maps. There is also growing interest in the construction of 3D urban models that can be integrated with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies and applied in many sectors, including tourism. Using Virtual Heiankyō as a basis, an app we previously developed as part of the Virtual Kyoto project, we developed a new and unique VR and AR-driven smartphone app called Virtual Heiankyō AR. This app recreates the historic cityscape of Heian-kyō. We explore the app’s potential and user sentiment towards Virtual Heian-kyo AR by analysing app performance metrics, online articles, and social media commentary. We consider how the app differs from existing maps, the new value it potentially offers, and the issues to be addressed. The results suggest that the app could serve as a tool for VR and AR maps and a new type of mapping technology with novel application of VR and AR. This technology could be applied to evaluate maps or generate cartographic, geospatial data. We consider that this combination of mapping technologies could be applied to many industries, such as tourism and urban planning.

In wayfinding behavior, individuals occasionally use public street signs to confirm their current position on the map and find their way. Foreign visitors, in particular, tend to rely on public signs in unfamiliar environments to ensure their position and location. However, few studies in cartography have dealt with the role of signs in wayfinding behavior of tourists and their relationship to maps. This study examined the current status of public street signs, maps, and related issues in wayfinding behavior by foreign visitors. We obtained data on public signs from our fieldwork in Shinjuku District, Tokyo. For the current study, information displayed on 187 signs was recorded, and locations of these signs were geocoded. Data analysis revealed that 65.7% of the signs included a map. In Shinjuku, public signs were unevenly distributed, and many signs were seen in the new urban area situated on the western side of the district. According to the typology of public signs, signs with maps were classified as guiding signs that are used to identify one’s current location and find one’s way. To prepare for the increase in the number of foreign visitors, most of the signs in Shinjuku displayed pictograms and multilingual annotations. The maps on the signs were aligned with the direction of the viewer to avoid problems caused by the alignment effect. Thus, the direction sign can be regarded as an environmental cue connecting the map and real-world space.

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of cognitive maps envisaged by people who use smartphones to access rail-route planning information or web-based maps. The study consisted of two experiments. In Experiment 1, the accuracy of cognitive maps of Tokyo envisaged by university students was compared with the accuracy of those envisaged by older adults. Experiment 2 compared the accuracy of students’ cognitive maps at different cartographic scales. The results revealed that students exhibited inaccurate spatial knowledge at a cartographic scale that encompasses Tokyo’s rail network because of their reliance on smartphones to access geospatial information.

Since the end of the twentieth century, the widespread availability of information and communications technology (ICT) has led to an increased use of web-based maps that has altered the utilization of geospatial information. In particular, intergenerational differences in the use of digital maps have increased due to the generation gap in the skills required to use ICT devices. This study examined variations in map usage by focusing on the characteristics of digital natives. The data used in this study were derived from an online survey of 624 people in 2018. A questionnaire was designed to gather data about the participants’ current state of map use, their usage of ICT devices, their degree of geospatial awareness, and demographic attributes. Differences in map usage patterns between generational groups were examined using statistical methods. The results revealed that most people use web maps and that conventional paper maps are still widely used by middle-aged and older adults. Whereas middle-aged and older groups tended to use maps with PCs, most web map users of young generation browsed the map using a smartphone. Young people’s dependence on web maps may reduce their interest in maps and geography, but they are given more benefits from new types of web maps.

The development of volunteered geographic information (VGI) in Japan, especially the use of OpenStreetMap (OSM), became active after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011. In addition, crisis mapping for disaster response and OSM activities have been under constant development in Japan since 2011. For the first time, the long-term evolution of OSM activities in the region and the number of contributors (mappers) was analyzed over the last 12 years. To clarify the regional differences, the coverage of some characteristic OSM features in each prefecture was clarified using OSM historical dump data and the ohsome API. The number of mappers increased significantly in response to several disaster events that occurred in Japan and has been increasing daily since 2016. Since 2016, OSM activities have been conducted outside major cities, and the development of residential road data has progressed. However, the creation of building data and the updating of road widths of major roads have not progressed significantly due to limited data maintenance.

Since the 1990s, the possibilities of geospatial analysis in conjunction with GIS have dramatically increased in the context of the consolidation of geostatistical data, high-precision GPS, improvement of PC processing capability, and expedited LAN access. In light of the new situation, the author discusses how social networking tools have permeated our daily lives, and how the unfounded rumours fly over the internet are easily spread, how easy for people to obtain such unconfirmed information and be instigated, and how the intangible online rumours have a concrete effect on the real world. It is the location information that links virtual world to the real world and makes possible to cause an action to really occur. In this chapter, the author intends to establish a notion of “geospatial stigmatization”—the geospatial dimension of stigmatization. In doing so, two recently published Japanese websites, Oshimaland and Hasansha-Map, are illustrated as cases of the present study. These two are both digital archives of human-related ulterior properties geotagged to electronic maps and caused massive controversies. By investigating these websites, we will be able to obtain a better understanding on how better PGIS should be, because they both created under the influence of people-powered mapping paradigm.

This paper analyzes the content of newspaper articles that mentioned tactile maps for the visually impaired, and examines how such types of maps have been situated in Japan. From the mid-1990s to mid-2000s, the number of newspaper articles mentioning tactile maps has increased, and such types of maps have become known to the public. This trend was based on the enforcement of the acts on accessible design of public facilities. In parallel with this trend, the newspaper articles have reported efforts by welfare organizations to transcribe existing graphical maps into Braille. There seem to be two types of thought behind these situations. The first is the thought of “transforming a tool for the sighted into a tool for the visually impaired.” Another is the thought of “preparing tools for the visually impaired in addition to those for the sighted.” They both presuppose a clear distinction between the abled and the disabled, and have a danger of falling into ableism. It is important to note that the latest high-tech tactile maps are also placed in this context. The author believes that we need mapmaking with the visually impaired instead of mapmaking for the visually impaired in order to avoid ableism.

The Great East Japan Earthquake drew attention to the fact that many non-Japanese women were resident in dispersed areas of rural Japan. They were the immigrant wives (mostly Chinese, Korean, and Filipinos) married to Japanese men and living in local communities, where they were isolated from other non-Japanese residents. This study analyzed the distribution pattern of such women using the grid-square statistics of Japan’s 2010 population census and GIS. We applied statistical data for 1-km  × 1-km grids; we identified grids that had only one non-Japanese resident, and that person was a woman as “isolated grids.” Among the isolated grids, there were grids where no non-Japanese resided in the eight adjacent grids: We defined such grids as “more-isolated grids.” From our analysis using kernel density estimation, isolated grids were distributed in eastern Japan (such as Tohoku); however, more-isolated grids appeared not only in eastern Japan but also in western Japan (such as Kyushu).