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Through advancements in surveying technology and digitization, the ways we make and utilize maps are undergoing considerable change. They can be used to stake territorial claims or check the location of a store, created on a computer or drawn by hand, and their sphere is continuing to expand.
Maps provide foundation for peace, nation-building
Before undertaking a map-making project in the Mindanao region in the southern Philippines, Yutaka Kokufu of major Japanese surveying firm PASCO Corp. had to insure his...
Mapping an effective tool for claiming territory
Through surveying, naming and publishing, a completed map often becomes a political message by which a nation stakes a claim to what it sees as its own territory.
Reality, or memory? Making maps in disaster-hit...
There were hardly any signs of life, only the sound of heavy machinery breaking down massive piles of rubble.
Google gathers users' knowledge to make more...
Although Anas Qtiesh isn't a surveyor or a researcher for a map-making company, he is participating in Google's "Map Maker" project and is helping to make the maps more...
Handmade maps 'wonderfully eye-catching'
Graphic designer Mie Takahashi describes herself as a "pictorial map artisan," and she is not likely to get lost anytime soon.
Afterthoughts: Things are looking up for the...
Why am I unable to get where I want to be at the appointed time? Even though I leave early, inevitably, I lose my way. Drenched in sweat after walking much longer than needed,...
Afterthoughts: The diverse power and dreams of maps
There is a map that depicts "a country that doesn't exist." This country stretches from southern Turkey to northwestern Iran, an area home to around 30 million Kurdish people....
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Africa's image as a continent plagued by famine and civil wars has rapidly changed in recent years. It is now seen as a region of burgeoning growth. But it is still beset by a widening gap between rich and poor and deteriorating public safety, among other problems. In this series, we look at present-day Africa and contemplate its future.
People
University cheerleader brings Koshien spirit of...
June 09, 2013Tropical winds carry the sounds of drumming and dance music across a baseball field littered with stones and anchored by a metal wire backstop full of holes due to stolen parts.
Economy
Africa’s poor can enjoy the boom times, too, with ...
June 09, 2013Economic growth across Africa has surged by around 5 percent annually since the dawn of the new millennium. An African middle class has also emerged, but poverty is ever-present as ever. High-quality education and improved...
Backstage
ASICS races for larger share of global sport shoe...
December 23, 2012ASICS, Japan’s largest sport shoe, apparel and equipment manufacturer, is gradually starting to make lengthy strides into the global athletic shoe market dominated by U.S.-based Nike and German Adidas.