European Map of the New World, First Pub'd 1540, Showing Japan
I was doing some Columbus Day research and happened across the map below, created by the German cartographer Sebastian Münster. I thought some of you might find it interesting. Japan is labeled Zipangri and is the yellow rectangle located about a three-hour boatride from Mexico. 
On the continent of South America, you can see that Münster has used Amerigo Vespucci's term for what would come to be called The Americas: Die Nüw Welt (The New World). Columbus himself, never understanding that the lands he "discovered" weren't part of Asia, died 34 years before this map was made, convinced that Japan was located north and a bit west of Cuba.
It would be interesting to see Asian maps from the same period. I've only just begun looking into the topic. If anyone has any resources they can point me to, that would be great. Thanks!
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