One Sheet, an Important Cultural Property since 2001
Map of Kubiki District, Echigo Province (越後国頸城郡絵図, Echigo no Kuni Kubiki-gun Ezu) is an Azuchi-Momoyama-period document held at the Uesugi Museum, 1-2-1 Marunouchi, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, listed as an Important Cultural Property on 22 June 2001. The listing is as an Important Cultural Property, not a National Treasure, and the owner is Yonezawa City.
The quantity is one sheet, using a measure word for maps and pictorial plans. Properties covered here have been counted in buildings, figures, blades, scrolls, boxes, towers, pieces, suits, hangings, mirrors, flat objects, staff heads, sets, pairs and sites; this measure word appears for the first time.
The designation number is 00113 with a sub-number of 1. The porcelain inkstone and five other objects shared 00106 across sub-numbers 01 to 06. This property carries a sub-number too.
The Commentary Field Reads Only: See the Detailed Commentary
The field for explanation points elsewhere.
It holds a single phrase directing the reader to a detailed commentary held separately.
This is not an explanation but an instruction to look at one.
At the Kuwanomidera main hall, the commentary field was empty. With the gilded mirror it read: material of the Kofun period; with the Rai Kunimitsu blade: a work of the Kamakura period.
This differs from all of those. There is text, but it is not about the object.
As a use of the commentary field this is a fourth form: a full account, a single sentence, nothing at all, and a pointer to somewhere else.
The Land Depicted and the Land Where It Sits Are Different Prefectures
The subject of the map and its resting place lie far apart.
Kubiki district of Echigo province, named in the title, corresponds to Joetsu City and its surroundings in present-day Niigata Prefecture.
The prefecture field, however, gives Yamagata, with the map held at the Uesugi Museum in Yonezawa and owned by that city.
The gilded mirror came out of the ground in Gifu and sits in Tokyo; the clay figurine came from Miyagi and sits in Tokyo. Those concern where an object was found.
Here it is not where the object was dug up but where it looks at. The object did not travel; the land it depicts is simply far away.
A related property maps another district of the same province.
Nearly Every Field Is Empty
Little information sits in the record.
The fields for dimensions and weight, for form, for date, for year and for maker are all empty.
So are the fields for notes, for inscriptions and colophons, and for provenance and other matters of note.
What remains are the quantity, the category, the country, the period, the designation and sub-number, the date of listing, the address and the owner.
At the Kuwanomidera main hall, the commentary was empty but the structural field was full. With the Rai Kunimitsu blade, a one-sentence commentary came with a maker's name.
Here the commentary is a pointer and the other fields are largely empty as well. The period field, reading Azuchi-Momoyama, is the only clue to the date.
Seeing It
The museum holds the map and the city owns it. The museum's name appears in the field for the holding institution and in the address field alike.
With the gilded mirror, holder and owner were both the Gotoh Museum. With the Gekimosho, the library held it and the university owned it. Here it is a museum and a city.
The category field reads historical materials, calligraphy and books, ancient documents: three categories separated by slashes.
The Gekimosho carried the same three, with a further word for others after them. This property has no such addition. The same three categories end differently.
The same museum holds related properties, including the Uesugi family documents. It is a museum holding, not kept on permanent display. Check before travelling.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Yamagata
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Map of Kubiki District, Echigo Province
- [ Yamadera Temple & Zao Onsen Hot Springs ]
Q&A
- When was the map listed?
- On 22 June 2001, as an Important Cultural Property rather than a National Treasure. The quantity is one sheet, the designation number 00113 with a sub-number of 1.
- What commentary accompanies it?
- A single phrase directing the reader to a detailed commentary held separately. It is not an explanation but an instruction to look at one.
- Why is it in Yamagata?
- Because Yonezawa City owns it and its museum holds it. The district depicted lies in present-day Niigata Prefecture, so map and subject sit in different prefectures.
- What size is it?
- Not recorded. The fields for dimensions and for form are empty, as are those for date, year, maker, notes, inscriptions and provenance.
- What is the measure word for it?
- One used for maps and pictorial plans, distinct from those for buildings, blades, scrolls, mirrors and flat objects met so far.
Basic Information
| Name | Map of Kubiki District, Echigo Province (越後国頸城郡絵図); the commentary field holds only a pointer to a detailed commentary |
|---|---|
| Location | Uesugi Museum, 1-2-1 Marunouchi, Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture; the district depicted lies in present-day Niigata Prefecture |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (fine arts); the category field reads historical materials, calligraphy and books, ancient documents; designation no. 00113, sub-number 1; not a National Treasure |
| Year Designated | 2001 (22 June), Important Cultural Property |
| Quantity | 1 sheet |
| Dimensions | The fields for dimensions and weight and for form are both empty, as are those for date, year, maker, notes, inscriptions and colophons, and provenance. Only the period field carries an entry, reading Azuchi-Momoyama |
| Owner | Yonezawa City |
| Public Access | A museum holding, not on permanent display |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs database: the Kubiki district map
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/201/10501
- Cultural Heritage Online: the same map
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/202623
- Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum
- https://www.denkoku-no-mori.yonezawa.yamagata.jp/uesugi.htm
- Yamagata Prefecture: cultural properties search
- https://www.pref.yamagata.jp/cgi-bin/yamagata-takara/?m=detail&id=1102
Last verified: 2026.09.07