According to a recent article in The Japan Times, more and more women are taking to map-reading these days. One reason cited in the article is the influence of the new autumn TV drama called "Sosa Chizu no Onna" ("Woman of Investigative Maps"). The starring role is played by Miki Maya, herself a map lover. So it appears that some women are discovering their closet investigative talents or at least their inner Sherlock Holmes.

I believe that another reason women are so keen on map-reading has to do with the fact that Ino Tadataka (1745-1818) is a household name in Japan. A surveyor and cartographer, Ino is responsible for coming up with the first modern map of Japan. Not an explorer, nor even a traveler, Ino retired from running his father's sake-brewing business and, while in his 50s studied astronomy, geography and mathematics — a trifecta of studies that lead to map making.

When I first moved to Shiraishi Island in the Seto Inland Sea, one of the first things one of the locals did was point to an old traditional Japanese-style house and say, "That is where Ino Tadataka stayed in the early 1800s while he was making his map of this area of Japan." Uh-huh.