With the advent of in-car navigation systems, Japanese map publishers have noticed a significant drop in sales of road maps. One publisher, Jinbun-sha has chosen to produce wht it calls “value-added” maps. Such maps include historical maps placed sid-by-side with a regular street map, maps showing the best route home in the event of an earthquake, and development maps. Though the expansion into producing paper maps showing more than just streets is admirable, none of these “valued-added” features seem to exclusive to paper-based products. In fact, sseem more appropriate for use in digital maps. Are paper map publishers fighting a losing battle?

Read the story on asahi.com.

By way of Great Map.