Conquering the Skies

Conquering the skies board game (all in Japanese). A sugoroku game (a Japanese game which might be compared to backgammon) of graphically striking design encouraging players to make their way around the world along aviation routes of various types (e.g. the Zeppelin route.) Japan lies at the center, with countries identified by national flags. Around the border of the map are black and white images of people, animals, and historical buildings relating to the different stops along the way. The text boxes at the bottom give directions for playing the game, and important things for children to learn. It was a New Years newspaper supplement to Mainichi Shinbun, dated Showa 5 (1930).

Text in Japanese. The subtitle on the right reads: Educational Games for a New Age; the subtitle on the left reads:New Years Supplement to Osaka Mainichi Newspaper. Map title: World Flight Routes. Lower right: Directions for playing. "The easiest way" "Here are instructions for the easiest way to play. Around the map are assembled the world's interesting and well-known places. Most likely, these are all places that everyone wishes they could visit sometime. Departing from Osaka [1] and moving to all the places in order of 2, 3, 4, you then return to Tokyo [52]. The player who reaches there first is the winner. "Throw the dice and proceed as many places as the number you cast..." Upper right text informs players of distances between locations, with basic geographic facts. The legend, toward the bottom of the map oval, shows 5 types of red lines & 1 square: 1. Well-known large aircraft route (refers to zeppelin, seen center of map) 2. First-class limited time route 3. Liner air route 4. Air route already mastered/controlled/ conquered 5. Planned route. Main localities [red square inside black square].

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