This copy is the rare second state. According to Toshikazu Kaida, only five examples have been recorded, including one at the East Asia Library, University of Washington, and two in private collections. 

Europe is depicted as a series of islands in the upper left of the image while South America is likewise another island in the lower right of the image. Africa is omitted completely. China and Japan are clearly defined in the upper right of the map. The popularity of the map is evidenced by the fact that although the map is dated 1710, it was reissued unchanged in numerous editions through to about 1815 and spawned innumerable copies and derivatives over the next one hundred and fifty years.

The text is Chinese, except for a few Japanese characters in the depiction of the European countries. Europe is shown at the upper left as a group of islands, which can be identified from Iceland to England, Scandinavia, Poland, Hungary, and Turkey, but deliberately deleting the Iberian Peninsula. At the lower right, South America is featured as an island south of Japan with a small peninsula, as part of Central America, only a few placenames appear but include four Chinese characters whose phonetical Japanese reading is 'A-ME-RI-KA'. North of Japan, a land bridge joins Asia with an unnamed landmass, presumably North America. Africa is not shown at all.

The earliest known world map in Japan is the ‘Gotenjiku Zu’ ('Map of the Five Indies') by the priest Jukai dating from 1364 and now preserved in Hōryū-ji Temple in Nara. However, 

 Naniwashi map was revolutionary in being the first printed Oriental map to introduce detailed Western cartographic information into this traditional Buddhist cosmological view and to attempt to merge the two together into a comprehensible form. It became the prototype for all subsequent Buddhist world maps printed in Japan until the late nineteenth century.

The earliest known world map in Japan is the ‘Gotenjiku Zu’ ('Map of the Five Indies') by the priest Jukai dating from 1364 and now preserved in Hōryū-ji Temple in Nara. However, Hōtan's map was revolutionary in being the first printed Oriental map to introduce detailed Western cartographic information into this traditional Buddhist cosmological view and to attempt to merge the two together into a comprehensible form. It became the prototype for all subsequent Buddhist world maps printed in Japan until the late nineteenth century.

This map is much more than a world map, and the main purpose of the author was to celebrate a very important historical event. The map echoes the pilgrimage route of the famous Chinese Buddhist priest Hsuan-Tsang (or Xuan Zhuang, Genjo in Japanese, 602–664 CE), who travelled to India to visit sacred Buddhist places, and also to collect holy Sanskrit writings. The largest part of the map is depicted to 'Jambu-Dvipa' with the sacred Lake of Anavatapta (Lake Manasarovar in the Himalayas) at its center, from which the four rivers, the Ganges, Oxus, Indus, and Tarim flow. This all was based on the Japanese version of Hsuan-Tsang's Chinese narrative, the ‘Si-yu-ki’, printed as late as 1653. Here numerous details are given, including the interesting feature of the so-called 'iron-gate', shown as an oversized square, and the path taken by the monk whilst crossing the forbidden mountain systems after leaving Samarkand. In the upper left corner one hundred and two references from Buddhist holy writings, and Chinese annals, are mentioned to lend authority to the map. 

A superb example of the first Japanese printed map to depict the world, including Europe and America, from a Buddhist cosmographical perspective. The author, 

 Naniwashi (1654-1728) was a scholar-priest and founder of the Kegonji Temple in Kyoto.

Folding into original blue native paper covers with printed paper on the front; preserved in a blue cloth folding case.   

 map on sixteen joined sheets of native paper,

The First Buddhist World Map Printed in Japan