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Historical GIS and Digital Humanities

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A special issue of ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information (ISSN 2220-9964).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 47746

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Keiji Yano

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Guest Editor

Department of Geography, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, Japan
Interests: geodemographics; spatial humanities; historical GIS; virtual cities; history of quantitative geography and GIS

Dr. Akihiro Tsukamoto

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Guest Editor

Department of Integrated Arts and Sciences, Tokushima University, Tokushima, Japan
Interests: historical GIS; historical geography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Since the middle of the 2000s, digital humanities (DH) research projects involving the collaboration and uniting of researchers from both the humanities and sciences fields have begun developing even within the conventional humanities world to build archives of academic materials using information and communication technology (ICT), analyzing cultural contents, publishing research results, focusing on how the results are to be shown, and so forth. Of these, the historical geographical information systems (GIS) using geospatial information have served as a spatial turn in the humanities and become central to the creation of new academic fields within humanities, such as GeoHumanities and Spatial Humanities. These ensure a significant development in new, project-based research styles through interdisciplinary and international collaborations using historical GIS.

This Special Issue aims to promote new and innovative studies and to propose new possibilities of interdisciplinary and collaborative research within the humanities in order to improve historical GIS and the digital humanities with a spatial turn.

Prof. Keiji Yano
Dr. Akihiro Tsukamoto
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Digital humanities
Historical GIS
Spatial history, geohumanities
Old maps and old photos
3D modelling of cultural contents
Georeference
Place names
Web GIS

Published Papers (12 papers)

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16 pages, 4424 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimation of Origin-Destination Flows of Passenger Cars in 1925 in Old Tokyo City, Japan

by Kazuki Ishikawa and Daichi Nakayama

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(11), 472; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8110472 - 24 Oct 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3495

Abstract

In recent years, surveys of personal travel behavior have been conducted around the world and these surveys have been used for understanding the characteristics of people flow. However, it is impossible to acquire people and traffic flows for the modern era (1868–1945). In modern era Japan, some traffic surveys were conducted, and that records still persist. The purpose of this study was to estimate origin-destination (OD) flows in old Tokyo in 1925 based on the historical traffic census record. In this study, OD flows were estimated using an absorbing Markov chain model, which is a simple model based on traffic generation and transition probabilities. Transition probabilities in unobserved nodes were estimated using genetic algorithms (GA). The result of OD distributions is clearly different in the eastern part of Tokyo City, the Shitamachi area, from the western part, the Yamanote area. The traffic was very busy in Shitamachi, an area which included terminal stations and a central business district. In Yamanote, major traffic generation and absorption points were distributed along the main streets to the Shinjuku or Shibuya areas. These results are affected by the distribution of main roads and the locations of residences or workplaces of car owners. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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11 pages, 3274 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Geographical Analysis on the Projection and Distortion of INŌ’s Tokyo Map in 1817

by Yuki Iwai and Yuji Murayama

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(10), 452; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8100452 - 12 Oct 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3297

Abstract

The history of modern maps in Japan begins with the Japan maps (called INŌ’s maps) prepared by Tadataka Inō after he thoroughly surveyed the whole of Japan around 200 years ago. The purpose of this study was to investigate the precision degree of INŌ’s Tokyo map by overlaying it with present maps and analyzing the map style (map projection, map scale, etc.). Specifically, we quantitatively examined the spatial distortion of INŌ’s maps through comparisons with the present map using GIS (geographic information system), a spatial analysis tool. Furthermore, by examining various factors that caused the positional gap and distortion of features, we explored the actual situation of surveying in that age from a geographical viewpoint. As a result of the analysis, a particular spatial regularity was confirmed in the positional gaps with the present map. We found that INŌ’s Tokyo map had considerably high precision. The causes of positional gaps from the present map were related not only to natural conditions, such as areas and land but also to social and cultural phenomena. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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18 pages, 3007 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Strengths of Exaggerated Tsunami-Originated Placenames: Disaster Subculture in Sanriku Coast, Japan

by Yuzuru Isoda, Akio Muranaka, Go Tanibata, Kazumasa Hanaoka, Junzo Ohmura and Akihiro Tsukamoto

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(10), 429; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8100429 - 24 Sep 2019

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3482

Abstract

Disaster-originated placename is a kind of disaster subculture that is used for a practical purpose of identifying a location while reminding the past disaster experience. They are expected to transmit the risks and knowledge of high-risk low-frequency natural hazards, surviving over time and generations. This paper compares the perceptions to tsunami-originated placenames in local communities having realistic and exaggerated origins in Sanriku Coast, Japan. The reality of tsunami-originated placenames is first assessed by comparing the tsunami run-ups indicated in the origins and that of the tsunami in the Great East Japan Earthquake 2011 using GIS and digital elevation model. Considerable proportions of placenames had exaggerated origins, but the group interviews to local communities revealed that origins indicating unrealistic tsunami run-ups were more believed than that of the more realistic ones. We discuss that accurate hazard information will be discredited if it contradicts to the people’s everyday life and the desire for safety, and even imprecise and ambiguous information can survive if it is embedded to a system of local knowledge that consistently explains the various facts in a local area that requires explanation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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19 pages, 24765 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Transparent Collision Visualization of Point Clouds Acquired by Laser Scanning

by Weite Li, Kenya Shigeta, Kyoko Hasegawa, Liang Li, Keiji Yano, Motoaki Adachi and Satoshi Tanaka

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(9), 425; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8090425 - 19 Sep 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2869

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a method to visualize large-scale colliding point clouds by highlighting their collision areas, and apply the method to visualization of collision simulation. Our method uses our recent work that achieved precise three-dimensional see-through imaging, i.e., transparent visualization, of large-scale point clouds that were acquired via laser scanning of three-dimensional objects. We apply the proposed collision visualization method to two applications: (1) The revival of the festival float procession of the Gion Festival, Kyoto city, Japan. The city government plans to revive the original procession route, which is narrow and not used at present. For the revival, it is important to know whether the festival floats would collide with houses, billboards, electric wires, or other objects along the original route. (2) Plant simulations based on laser-scanned datasets of existing and new facilities. The advantageous features of our method are the following: (1) A transparent visualization with a correct depth feel that is helpful to robustly determine the collision areas; (2) the ability to visualize high collision risk areas and real collision areas; and (3) the ability to highlight target visualized areas by increasing the corresponding point densities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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30 pages, 25281 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Japanese Lexical Variation Explained by Spatial Contact Patterns

by Péter Jeszenszky, Yoshinobu Hikosaka, Satoshi Imamura and Keiji Yano

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(9), 400; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8090400 - 06 Sep 2019

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6548

Abstract

In this paper, we analyse spatial variation in the Japanese dialectal lexicon by assembling a set of methodologies using theories in variationist linguistics and GIScience, and tools used in historical GIS. Based on historical dialect atlas data, we calculate a linguistic distance matrix across survey localities. The linguistic variation expressed through this distance is contrasted with several measurements, based on spatial distance, utilised to estimate language contact potential across Japan, historically and at present. Further, administrative boundaries are tested for their separation effect. Measuring aggregate associations within linguistic variation can contrast previous notions of dialect area formation by detecting continua. Depending on local geographies in spatial subsets, great circle distance, travel distance and travel times explain a similar proportion of the variance in linguistic distance despite the limitations of the latter two. While they explain the majority, two further measurements estimating contact have lower explanatory power: least cost paths, modelling contact before the industrial revolution, based on DEM and sea navigation, and a linguistic influence index based on settlement hierarchy. Historical domain boundaries and present day prefecture boundaries are found to have a statistically significant effect on dialectal variation. However, the interplay of boundaries and distance is yet to be identified. We claim that a similar methodology can address spatial variation in other digital humanities, given a similar spatial and attribute granularity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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11 pages, 9333 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Wind Condition Analysis of Japanese Rural Landscapes in the 19th Century: A Case Study of Kichijoji Village in Musashino Upland

by Muneyuki Natsume

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(9), 396; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8090396 - 05 Sep 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3784

Abstract

Woodlands in the traditional rural landscape of Japan are thought to have a role as windbreaks, among various functions. However, in previous studies, the windbreak effect of woodlands in early-modern settlements has not been quantitatively analyzed. To perform a quantitative analysis, computational fluid dynamics was used with a 3D reconstruction of the early-modern rural landscape of Kichijoji village in a suburb of Tokyo. The landscape was reconstructed based on historical records. The analysis showed that the woodland in Kichijoji village effectively reduced the speed of northbound and southbound winds in the fields. The results are consistent with the actual prevailing wind direction in this area. The purpose of this study was to determine a method and model to quantify the windbreak effect of woodlands in early-modern settlements. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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19 pages, 3849 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Practical Procedure to Integrate the First 1:500 Urban Map of Valencia into a Tile-Based Geospatial Information System

by Miriam Villar-Cano, María Jesús Jiménez-Martínez and Ángel Marqués-Mateu

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(9), 378; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8090378 - 29 Aug 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2482

Abstract

The use of geographic data from early maps is a common approach to understanding urban geography as well as to study the evolution of cities over time. The specific goal of this paper is to provide a means for the integration of the first 1:500 urban map of the city of València (Spain) on a tile-based geospatial system. We developed a workflow consisting of three stages: the digitization of the original 421 map sheets, the transformation to the European Terrestrial Reference System of 1989 (ETRS89), and the conversion to a tile-based file format, where the second stage is clearly the most mathematically involved. The second stage actually consists of two steps, one transformation from the pixel reference system to the 1929 local reference system followed by a second transformation from the 1929 local to the ETRS89 system. The last stage comprises a map reprojection to adapt to tile-based geospatial standards. The paper describes a pilot study of one map sheet and results showed that the affine and bilinear transformations performed well in both transformations with average residuals under 6 and 3 cm respectively. The online viewer developed in this study shows that the derived tile-based map conforms to common standards and lines up well with other raster and vector datasets. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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13 pages, 5944 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

An Examination of the Distribution of White-Collar Worker Residences in Tokyo and Osaka during the Modernizing Period

by Takashi Kirimura

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(9), 375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8090375 - 28 Aug 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3859

Abstract

This paper sheds light on the residences of white-collar workers in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan in the modernizing period using historical statistical data and telephone directories from a historical geographic information system (GIS) analysis. We examined the differences between the distribution of white-collar workers and the progress of suburbanization by comparing the respective unemployment censuses and telephone directories of Tokyo and Osaka. The analysis shows that in 1925, there was a tendency for many white-collar workers to live in certain city sectors, as well as in the city center. However, this trend had changed by the mid-1930s, when data show that private-sector white-collar workers tended to live more in areas with a relatively low population density. Compared to Osaka, Tokyo was relatively suburbanized with white-collar workers in private companies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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17 pages, 2292 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Expressing History through a Geo-Spatial Ontology

by Humphrey Southall and Paula Aucott

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(8), 362; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8080362 - 20 Aug 2019

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4658

Abstract

Conventional Geographical Information Systems (GIS) software struggles to represent uncertain and contested historical knowledge. An ontology, meaning a semantic structure defining named entities, and explicit and typed relationships, can be constructed in the absence of locational data, and spatial objects can be attached to this structure if and when they become available. We describe the overall architecture of the Great Britain Historical GIS, and the PastPlace Administrative Unit Ontology that forms its core. Then, we show how particular historical geographies can be represented within this architecture through two case studies, both emphasizing entity definition and especially the application of a multi-level typology, in which each “unit” has an unchanging “type” but also a time-variant “status”. The first includes the linked systems of Poor Law unions and registration districts in 19th century England and Wales, in which most but not all unions and districts were coterminous. The second case study includes the international system of nation-states, in which most units do not appear from nothing, but rather gain or lose independence. We show that a relatively simple data model is able to represent much historical complexity. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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14 pages, 20319 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fused Transparent Visualization of Point Cloud Data and Background Photographic Image for Tangible Cultural Heritage Assets

by Liang Li, Kyoko Hasegawa, Itaru Nii and Satoshi Tanaka

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(8), 343; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8080343 - 31 Jul 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3649

Abstract

Digital archiving of three-dimensional cultural heritage assets has increased the demand for visualization of large-scale point clouds of cultural heritage assets acquired by laser scanning. We proposed a fused transparent visualization method that visualizes a point cloud of a cultural heritage asset in an environment using a photographic image as the background. We also proposed lightness adjustment and color enhancement methods to deal with the reduced visibility caused by the fused visualization. We applied the proposed method to a laser-scanned point cloud of a high-valued cultural festival float with complex inner and outer structures. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method enables high-quality transparent visualization of the cultural asset in its surrounding environment. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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14 pages, 5137 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Geo-Referencing and Mapping 1901 Census Addresses for England and Wales

by Tian Lan and Paul Longley

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(8), 320; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8080320 - 24 Jul 2019

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 4151

Abstract

Geocoding historical addresses is a primary yet nontrivial application of spatial analysis in historical geographic information systems (GIS) and spatial humanities. We demonstrate our endeavours of geo-referencing and visualising historical census addresses in England and Wales, by matching the residential addresses to a historical gazetteer and a contemporary address database of Britain. The results indicate that it is feasible to standardise and geocode a large share of unique addresses from the historical database. The historical gazetteer and the modern address registers are two complementary data assets that can be used to geo-reference both well-formatted addresses in urban areas and non-standard addresses such as place names or building names in rural areas. The geo-referenced historical census data open up new opportunities for a broad spectrum of geo-demographic research on historical population characteristics at the micro level in England and Wales. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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17 pages, 5667 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperTechnical Note

Developing the Chinese Academic Map Publishing Platform

by Yongming Xu, Benjamin Lewis and Weihe Wendy Guan

ISPRS Int. J. Geo-Inf. 2019, 8(12), 567; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/ijgi8120567 - 10 Dec 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3521

Abstract

The discipline of the humanities has long been inseparable from the exploration of space and time. With the rapid advancement of digitization, databases, and data science, humanities research is making greater use of quantitative spatiotemporal analysis and visualization. In response to this trend, our team developed the Chinese academic map publishing platform (AMAP) with the aim of supporting the digital humanities from a Chinese perspective. In compiling materials mined from China’s historical records, AMAP attempts to reconstruct the geographical distribution of entities including people, activities, and events, using places to connect these historical objects through time. This project marks the beginning of the development of a comprehensive database and visualization system to support humanities scholarship in China, and aims to facilitate the accumulation of spatiotemporal datasets, support multi-faceted queries, and provide integrated visualization tools. The software itself is built on Harvard’s WorldMap codebase, with enhancements which include improved support for Asian projections, support for Chinese encodings, the ability to handle long text attributes, feature level search, and mobile application support. The goal of AMAP is to make Chinese historical data more accessible, while cultivating collaborative opensource software development. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Historical GIS and Digital Humanities)

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