Urban recovery digital archive of Edo-Tokyo on Google Earth

Recent geoinforntatic technology is one of the significant fields in the digital earth era. This paper demonstrates a trial of making urban recovery digital archive of Edo-Tokyo on Google Earth as one of the case studies. The digital archive consists of 119 maps/pictures from 1838 to 1997 of three important areas in Tokyo (Marunouchi, Otemachi, Kyobasbi, and Nihonbashi), which represent its dramatic historical change including the recovery process from Tokyo Earthquake in 1923 and the destruction in 1945 due to the World War II. Using some functions (overlay, timescale, and place mark), it enables us to understand urban transition of Tokyo.