A geographic browser to fly around the entire planet in 3D. Visually grasp "the world now and then" through satellite imagery, terrain, 3D buildings, and Timelapse (year-by-year change of satellite photos). The "Voyager" feature also hosts 3D tours of World Heritage sites and stories on endangered species and the SDGs. An entry to geography, history, disaster prevention, and international comparison — usable at any age.
Confirm nationwide disaster risks (flood, landslide, storm surge, tsunami, etc.) from MLIT via the "Layered Hazard Map" and "My Town Hazard Map". An entry for local disaster prevention and geography inquiry.
GIS data of administrative borders, transport, facilities, etc. Usable for mapping and analysis.
An entry to understanding seismic risk "with assumptions explicit".
Treats transaction prices, land prices, hazards, and city planning on the same map.
A pathway for how to use satellite data.
Browse Japan's geological maps seamlessly. Explain terrain, disasters, and resources from "differences in geology".
A navigation hub to GSJ database groups on geology, terrain, and resources. Strong as a path to drop down to primary data.
A historical map DB that lets you cross-search early-modern to modern maps. Read the change of place names, territories, transport routes, etc. as primary sources.
Overlay Edo, Meiji, and prewar old maps semi-transparently on modern maps. Visually read changes in place names, waterways, and roads. An entry to historical geography, usable from elementary to professional.
A site (independently run) that, with operations similar to the GSI Map, lets you overlay red-relief maps, contour lines, individually tiled old topographic maps, and detailed terrain maps. Supports two-pane display, measurement, drawing, and printing — works from middle-school regional / disaster-prevention / high school geography to university research and field surveys.
Japan's official source for seafloor topography, tides, ocean currents, territorial seas, and 3D marine maps. A primary information source for reading the links between landform, safety, fisheries, and the marine environment.
A volcano-visualization system from Japan's National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience (NIED). Seismic, tilt, temperature, and satellite observations are unified on a map so you can read "what is happening at this volcano now".
An official database that lets you pull borehole survey logs (columnar sections) by location, published by Japanese public-infrastructure bodies. You can see, as a primary source, which layers underlie your own town.
An international portal that cross-searches historical maps held by libraries and archives worldwide, from a geographic location. Complements David Rumsey for reading the same place across multiple period maps.
The official global bathymetric dataset jointly maintained by IHO and the IOC of UNESCO. The standard reference for "submarine topography" counterpart to the GSI Map, usable as the marine side of Create GBM's 3D terrain.
The UK's official mapping agency and one of the origins of modern cartographic surveying. Publishes precise topographic maps, administrative boundaries, and digital mapping. A strong comparison point for how "national maps" are made against GSI (Japan).
The UK's national geological survey. Publishes geological maps, subsurface, earthquake, and environmental-geology data. Paired with GSJ (Japan), gives an international lens on "reading the land through geology".
The official web map operated by France's national mapping agency (IGN). Layer topography, aerial photos, boundaries, and historical maps for all of France in the browser — a French counterpart to the GSI Map.
Australia's national geoscience and surveying agency. Provides comprehensive maps, landform, geology, and natural-hazard data. A Southern Hemisphere / continental-scale reference point for terrain inquiry.
New Zealand's official geo-information agency. Open topographic maps, aerial photos, cadastre, nautical charts, and place-name data. As an island nation on a plate boundary, comparable to Japan in geography.
The English portal of Germany's federal mapping and geodesy agency (BKG). Publishes national terrain, boundary, and administrative data. A model case for a continental European map-data system.
The official data hub of the EU / ESA Earth observation programme Copernicus. Sentinel optical and radar observations are available for free. The international standard for high-resolution satellite imagery inquiry on land use, disasters, and agriculture.
A planet-scale satellite-data analysis platform Google provides free for research, education, and non-profits. Landsat, Sentinel, and MODIS can all be analysed in the cloud. Since it is privately operated, confirm terms of use before applying it.
A global database of human settlement (cities / population / buildings) maintained by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. Combining satellite and statistics, it allows worldwide time-series comparison of urbanisation.
A high-resolution global population distribution dataset published by the WorldPop international project centred on the University of Southampton. Integrates censuses and satellite observations to compare small-area populations globally. Widely used for disaster, health, and education policy research.
An international-standard dataset of administrative boundaries down to city / municipality level. Freely available as base layers for overlaying statistics in GIS. For commercial use, confirm the licence separately.
A public digital archive at Stanford University Libraries holding over 150,000 historical maps of the world, 15th century to present, at high resolution. Even young learners can enjoy "how people used to picture the world" as images.
MLIT's 3D city models. Buildings and features derived from aerial survey data, freely available.
The national portal for distributing geospatial data from government and research institutions.
Side-by-side switching of topographic maps from the Meiji era onward for 59 regions across Japan.
Old maps from Japan's Geospatial Information Authority — from Edo-period surveying to early modern topographic maps.
Web-based version of Ino Tadataka's famous surveyed map of Japan, overlaid on a modern map.
Overlay open data on GSI maps, aerial photos, geological maps, and 3D terrain visualizations.
Download geological maps and data from the Geological Survey of Japan (AIST).
GSI's tool to estimate flood depths for buildings and land areas.
Detailed active-fault maps for major Japanese urban areas from GSI.
Long-term evaluations of active faults and subduction-zone earthquakes, and strong-motion predictions.
National database of active fault evaluations by Japan's Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion.
AIST's comprehensive active fault database with GIS data and evaluation reports.
Free GIS software designed for education — create thematic maps from statistical data.
Japan's official real-time river flood and rainfall information from the Ministry of Land.
National database of hydrological and water quality data from rivers and lakes across Japan.
Real-time water level monitoring for rivers nationwide — video-linked observation points.
Switch between aerial photos from the 1970s to the present — some areas from 1936 — in a two-panel linked view.
Aerial photos from the 1950s onward, freely viewable and downloadable at 400 dpi.
Official YouTube channel of the Geospatial Information Authority — tutorials, time-lapse maps, and geographic features.
Type any city name and this visualiser draws every road it finds in OpenStreetMap as a single line-art plate. Lets you read the shape of a city at a glance — grid, radial, or organic where rivers and coastlines have reshaped it — and line up two cities side by side for comparison.