Just recently here on the Hokkaido Wilds, we’ve begun providing free, downloadable, printable PDF topographic maps of the ski touring, hiking, and snowshoeing routes we publish here on the site; just look for the TOPOMAP+ button on route pages. We use QGIS, a GIS software, for the mapping work. So far we’ve got maps for the Italian Route (PDF), Bankei Hut hike (PDF), Asahidake-Kurodake Traverse (PDF), Monbetsu-dake snowshoe route (PDF), Sapporo-dake ski tour route (PDF) among others. The workflow to produce these maps is: make the topomap in QGIS, export as PDF, import the PDF into inDesign, do the layout/description/photos etc.
NOTE: I’m an amateur who is, really, grossly under-qualified to be schooling anyone on GIS stuff. I do understand Japanese though, so if you’re experienced with GIS and you have a question about the shapefiles or anything else that might require some Japanese interpretation, please let me know in the comments section.
If you are familiar with QGIS, applying styles, and the Geospacial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) vector files, and you just want to have a go at reproducing the Hokkaido Wilds map styles, then download our QGIS styles here (ZIP file).
If you want more details about attributes and the different kinds of shapefiles, then read on.
Contents (in-page links)
For much of the process of using GSI vector files, including downloading DEM vector/shape files and applying for permissions (see below), you’ll need a GSI account. So, first, make an account.
- Access https://onestop.gsi.go.jp/onestopservice/onestop_login.html and click on 新規登録 or ‘sign up’ if using Google Translate or similar.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to create your account.
NOTE: I checked the account creation page using the built-in Google Translate feature on Google Chrome, and the English translation was mostly legible. Note however that the page will jump back to Japanese when fields are updated etc. Just re-translate the page and you should be OK. I also tried copy and pasting the account signup page URL into the Google Translate page, but this didn’t go as well (pages stalled etc). Where possible, try using your browser’s in-built translation features.
In order to use GSI map data for your map project, permission must be sought from the GSI director. This is all free, no charges required, even for commercial use. This can be done online, but the interface is in Japanese. You can, however, use the built-in English translation feature of your browser.
For the Hokkaido Wilds purposes, we are using (使用) the map data and visualizing it in our own way, so there is no need to apply for reproduction (複製) permissions (as would be the case if we use the GSI raster map tiles). So, I’ll only talk about the data usage permissions here.
For our purposes we applied for the use of the GSI Basic Geospatial Information Digital Maps (基盤地図情報 – actual map data including contour lines, DEM etc) and National Land Numerical Information (数値地図 – just for bus routes http://nlftp.mlit.go.jp/ksj-e/index.html).
Procedure for applying for permission to use GSI map data
- Log into your GSI account (https://onestop.gsi.go.jp/onestopservice/onestop_login.html). See account creation details above.
- Access https://onestop.gsi.go.jp/onestopservice/.
- Click on the 申請 (application) button for ①数値地図、紙地図、空中写真、基盤地図情報等の複製承認申請または使用承認申請 (Google Translate: Application for copying approval or application for approval for use such as numerical map, paper map, aerial photograph, foundation map information etc).
- Work through the application flow, according to this PDF, which will cover the use (使用) of GSI vector data for creation of paper and/or PDF maps.
- Once you’ve filled everything in and submitted it, a PDF copy of your permission will be sent to your email within about 3 working days from GSI.
- On any map project covered by your permission, you’ll need to display the Japanese text indicated on the PDF permissions document (see an example here, at the bottom of the top middle panel of the first page).
Use the styles here to reproduce the Hokkaido Wilds topomap styles in QGIS (ZIP file): download
Reproduce and/or build on the Hokkaido Wilds PDF map layouts/color schemes using the following inDesign files.
- Two-page summer hiking layout (34Mb)
- Four-page summer hiking layout (61Mb)
- Two-page ski-touring layout (62Mb)
- Two-page winter hiking layout (76Mb)
NOTE: The PDF map portions are created/edited in QGIS, exported as PDF from QGIS, and inserted into inDesign.
FONTS: These layouts use the free Lato and Jaapokki fonts. For any Japanese text, we’re using the Kozuka Gothic Pr6N font.
Projection – I use UTM Zone 54N (WGS 84).
Bus Routes and Stops – Bus route and bus stop shapefiles can be downloaded from http://nlftp.mlit.go.jp/ksj-e/gml/gml_datalist.html (JPGIS2.1 GML shapefile format). I found that these layers needed to be in EPSG 4326 projection for some reason, in order for them to show up. For converting the kanji bus stop names to romaji, take a look below at the bus stop name conversion section. Here’s our bus route QGIS style files: bus route (lines), bus stops plus labels (Japanese, English).
GSI Shapefiles
GSI provides either free or premium shapefile downloads. The free version includes both DEM and map data, but the map data attributes are limited, and the DEM is limited to 5m and 10m meshes. The paid versions, at 175yen per set (about 12.75km x 10.5km = 134km²), include all available attributes for the given area, and the DEM includes 5m, 10m, and 50m meshes.
For both the free and premium download interfaces, the in-built Google Translate feature on Google Chrome does a decent job at translating the Japanese into English, if required. For the Hokkaido Wilds PDF maps, I’m mainly using the GSI SHP format vector files.
GSI Basic Information Shapefile Attribute Tags
How to convert kana place names to English (romaji)
The ‘anno’ denoted shapefiles is where all the place name information is stored. Here’s a ‘place name parser’ (Excel sheet) I’ve created that will take the kana (i.e., hiragana and katakana) and convert it to romaji (English-letters), and put a hyphen in front of yama (mountain), kawa (river), numa (pond) etc. My work flow is:
- Open the place name parser Excel sheet (download here). This sheet works for most place name types, but some manual editing may be required.
- Open the attribute table in QGIS for the ‘anno’ denoted shapefile, copy-and-paste the entire table into a new Excel sheet (not the place name parser sheet).
- Copy-and-paste the ‘kana’ column into an online kana to romaji converter. The fastest and most easy to use one I’ve found is this one: http://hebonshiki-henkan.info/. This removes long vowels, such that ‘Toukyou’ becomes the more familiar ‘Tokyo’.
- Copy and paste the resulting romaji list into the A) Paste romaji-converted kana column in the place name parser Excel file, and then copy the B, C, D and E cells down all of the rows.
- Without reordering anything, copy and paste the E) FINAL PRODUCT (Name + type) column content from the place name parser sheet into a column in the Excel sheet that contains the raw attribute table data. Name this column name. Delete all other columns except for the rID column – you’ll use this to match the data in QGIS.
- Save the resulting Excel sheet as a CSV file, with the filename ‘place_names_en.csv’.
- Back in QGIS, add the CSV file you just created as a new vector layer.
- Duplicate the existing ‘anno’ layer, and rename this to something like ‘Anno EN’.
- Double-click on the Anno EN layer to open the Properties window, and navigate to ‘Joins’. Click on the Plus (+) icon to add a new join. Choose the place_names_en layer as the Join Layer, and the rID columns in each layer as the Join Fields.
- Now, when you apply the English Anno style file to the Anno EN layer, you’ll get English labels appear.
How to convert kanji bus stop names to English (romaji)
This involves A) converting kanji to kana, and B) converting kana to romaji. See this excel sheet for an example.
- Create a unique numerical ID for each bus stop in the attribute table in QGIS. I used a simple ascending number (instructions). You’ll use this when joining the English with the original Japanese shapefile.
- Now copy and paste the bus stop layer attribute table into Excel (all 13,000+ rows in Hokkaido’s case).
- Make furigana display on the kanji bus stop names using VBA. Usually you can easily add furigana in Excel according to these instructions, but for some reason this doesn’t work with this data, so we have to use VBA.
- Select all kanji cells (column P11_001). Go to DEVELOPMENT → VBA. Go to DISPLAY → IMMEDIATE WINDOW.
- Paste “Selection.SetPhonetic” (without quotation marks) into the Immediate Window and hit Enter. Wait for Excel to process the data.
- Now add furigana to the kanji cells (instructions).
- Use the =PHONETIC() command to extract the kana from the kanji+furigana cells. See the kana column in this excel sheet for how to use this.
- Use http://hebonshiki-henkan.info/ to convert the kana to romaji.
- Save this file as a CSV, add it as a layer in QGIS, and join it with a duplicated bus stop layer. Use the resulting English bus stop name column as your label field.
Biodiversity Center of Japan Shapefiles
The Biodiversity Center of Japan provides 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scale vegetation maps for Japan. I use them to indicate bare land, shrub land (including sasa fields and haimatsu areas etc), and forested land on the Hokkaido Widls maps. The 1:25,000 scale maps cover most of Japan (about 75% of Hokkaido), and are shockingly accurate (at least for Hokkaido). The 1:50,000 maps completely cover Japan, but do not give as much granularity.
1:25,000 scale vegetation maps
Download (no registration required) | Chose your prefecture on this page: http://gis.biodic.go.jp/webgis/sc-025.html?kind=vg67. The built-in Google Translate feature of Google Chrome does a decent job translating the Japanese.
QGIS styles | I’ve styled the 1:25,000 map data such that as much as possible, DAI_C (大区分) attributes correspond to bare land (or cultivated/urban areas), shrub land, and forests, according to this pictorial legend by the biodiversity center.
- Summer vegetation style – 25000_vegetation_style_patterson_kelso_2004_Ver2.qml
This style was inspired by Patterson & Kelso’s (2004) paper outlining the development of a vegetation classification scheme based on the USGS NLCD classification scheme. - Winter vegetation style – 25000_vegetation_style_winter_Ver2.qml
This style collapses the shrub land and bare land into one color, and forests into another. Basically, if it is light blue, then you’re skiing in an area with no trees. Darker blue means you’re skiing between trees.
Area referencing | Files are downloaded prefecture-by-prefecture. In the ZIP file will be folders that correspond to the numbered mesh on this page.
Attribution | On any maps you produce using the data, you need to include an attribution along the lines of “This map uses modified 1:25,000 scale vegetation map GIS data created by the Biodiversity Center of Japan, Ministry of the Environment (http://gis.biodic.go.jp)” (see their Terms of Service in Japanese).
1:50,000 scale vegetation maps
Download (no registration required) | Chose your region on this page: http://gis.biodic.go.jp/webgis/sc-025.html?kind=vg. The built-in Google Translate feature of Google Chrome struggles a little more with this, at least for Hokkaido – Hokkaido regions are split into the first two rows (total of six downloads).
QGIS styles | Similar to the 1:25,000 map data, I’ve styled the 1:50,000 data such that as much as possible, MAJOR1 attributes correspond to bare land (or cultivated/urban areas), shrub land, and forests, according to this attribute table.
- Summer vegetation style – 50000_vegetation_style.qml
This style was inspired by Patterson & Kelso’s (2004) paper outlining the development of a vegetation classification scheme based on the USGS NLCD classification scheme. - Winter vegetation style – 50000_vegetation_style_winter_Ver4.qml
This style collapses the shrub land and bare land into one color, and forests into another. Basically, if it is light blue, then you’re skiing in an area with no trees. Darker blue means you’re skiing between trees.
Area referencing | Files are downloaded prefecture-by-prefecture (or region by rebion in Hokkaido). In the ZIP file will be folders that correspond roughly to the numbered mesh on this page.
Attribution | On any maps you produce using the data, you need to include an attribution along the lines of “This map uses modified 1:50,000 scale vegetation map GIS data created by the Biodiversity Center of Japan, Ministry of the Environment (http://gis.biodic.go.jp)” (see their Terms of Service in Japanese).
Hokkaido Wilds hillshade styles
To give the quasi-3D hill effect on the Hokkaido Wilds PDF maps, I’ve tried adapting John Nelson’s Eduard Imhof-inspired hillshade gradiations (see them here) to the GSI 10m mesh DEM shapefiles (free download from here). I don’t think I’ve done a particularly great job of it, but here they are nonetheless. The summer and winter versions are slightly different in that there’s much less greyscale hillshade in the winter version.
- Summer
- Winter (i.e., snow)
NOTE: I use a free Japanese program to create and merge the DEM files (基盤地図情報標高DEM変換ツール) into TIFFs. I then give the hillshade TIFFs a 2px Gaussian blur in Photoshop before adding them to QGIS (Geographic Imager plugin or similar required to output geoTIFFs in Photoshop).
Hokkaido Wilds GPX route styles
To indicate a route on the Hokkaido Wilds PDF TOPOMAP+ maps, I import the route’s GPX track into QGIS using the “GPS Tools” plugin. I then apply the following styles.
- Summer (non-snow) map
- Winter (snow) maps
NOTE: For the waypoints, I manually add either ‘dest’ (main point of interest along route), ‘hut’, ‘campground’ or ‘avalanche’ to the description column cell in order to get the icons to appear. In cases where a campground or hut is not specifically named in the “Anno” shapefile, I’ll add the name in Japanese and English in the ‘comment’ column, separated by a comma as a line-break.
13 thoughts on “Demystifying Japan Official Topographical Map Shapefiles”
I’m somewhat familiar with using shapefiles in QGIS, but all i can seem to download are xml files? What am I missing?
You can only get shapefiles with the paid versions of the data. The free layers are all xml, as far as I recall.
Thanks for pointing me to a place for downloading bus stops. As I grabbed the file, I thought how handy it would be to also have a line layer for bus routes, but nothing was listed. Then I noticed that they had a line layer for bathrooms, which sounded it bit odd (lines, rather than points, for toilets?). Then I looked inside, and sure enough, Bathrooms was Bus Routes! I’m not sure if it was Google translate that mixed it up, or the metadata writer of the GIS data, but… if you’re looking for lines with bus routes, then look to the right of the bus stops point layer and you’ll see lines-bathrooms, which is actually lines-bus routes. Thanks again.
Nice tip! Thanks!
Where do you find the anno.shp files? For the life of me I can’t seem to get hold of them. In fact your list of files is much more comprehensive than what I’m getting.
Hi Daniel, thank you for the query. The Japan government provides two types of data: free and paid. The free data doesn’t include place names…which is a pity. I guess that’s the data you’ve tried downloading (https://fgd.gsi.go.jp/download/mapGis.php). The paid data (https://maps.jmc.or.jp/#t=mapdata_gsi_online_dkg&ll=43.719520,143.452045&z=7&mt=gsimaps) has all the layers (including place names – anno). The paid data is pretty reasonable, at 178yen per map panel area. To satisfactorily cover Mt. Yotei, for example, you’d have to buy two, or perhaps six, panels worth of data (https://maps.jmc.or.jp/#t=mapdata_gsi_online_dkg&ll=42.831429,140.838130&z=12&mt=gsimaps). So that’s about 1000yen for that approx 35km x 25km area of map data. I hope this helps.
That does indeed – I was wondering why things were so limited. I’ll have to resort to OSM queries instead unfortunately. The cost might get a little prohibitive if I go paying for it. I’m doing some generic topos for some touring spots I’m exploring in Honshu. Thank you!
Hello Mr. Thomson,
Very comprehensive work about Japan’s spatial data, this truly seems like a wonderful resource that I will have to come back on. I was wondering if you could answer some questions that I have regarding Japanese sources on GIS data in general:
I’m currently attempting to create a rather detailed map of Hokkaido (hopefully that could include topography when I get to it), but I couldn’t find any good and/or complete ones so far, and unfortunately the BCJ shapefiles you’ve linked are rather large to procress or are incomplete (see the 1:25,000 version). Could you recommend any relatively detailed GIS shapefiles of Hokkaido that could show topography and would go relatively light on the program? Thank you very much in advance!
Hi Fred, thank you for the kind comments. I assume you tried downloading shapefiles from the GSI website? The 基本項目 here: https://fgd.gsi.go.jp/download/menu.php
You’re quite right though, if you wanted to have just one single layer of contour lines for the entire island, the file would be astronomically large, due to the sheer detail of the 1:25000 scale. I’m not quite sure what the solution is I’m afraid. Sorry I can’t be of more help! By the way, I wasn’t quite sure what you meant by “BCJ shapefiles”…
Wow Sir. Well done and thank you for your work and help. This seems to be just in the nick of time for the data I am looking for. I need the Bus Routes & Stops for Tokyo and your instructions including adding the phonetic names and everything went perfectly!
I owe you a beer!
Excellent! Great to hear. By the way, I have noticed that the bus routes are not always up to date. I imagine Tokyo will be pretty on the ball, but some routes here in rural Hokkaido, marked in the GSI data, are now not running. There were also some bus stops not marked in the data for Rishiri Island, whereas they do actually exist.
This looks like some more good free vector data. Not had a good explore yet but ‘Avalanche mesh data’ sounds interesting.
https://nlftp.mlit.go.jp/ksj-e/gml/gml_datalist.html
Thanks Chris. I took a quick look at that avalanche data, but it doesn’t look very comprehensive – there’s only seven recorded avalanches/landslides in the Sapporo/Niseko region (https://hokkaidowilds.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/avvy-data.png). A more detailed, up to date info page/map about avalanches in Hokkaido is this one: https://kenkyu.h-nadare.com/?page_id=273&zoom=7&lat=142.818854&long=43.657533 Although, it look like the points on that map might not have been updated since 2017…and I can’t find anywhere to download the data. Thanks again!