Japan has asked local authorities and state-run universities not to post Google maps on their websites because some of them use non-Japanese names for disputed islands, reports said Sunday.

Maps users in 19 languages, from English and German to Hindi and Korean, will see descriptions of places in their native languages on the map view upon arriving in Japan.

In Japan, though, Google Maps became my staunchest ally. It offered clear, easy-to-follow routes that helped me make sense of the chaos, even during Tokyo's infamous rush hours.

A fan made of a topographical map sold by the Japan Map Center. (The Yomiuri Shimbun) The kanji characters for Shinjuku Gyoen are visible in the foreground of this photo of a map sold by the Japan ...

Japan in a new-found world / Joseph LOH -- The world from the waterline / Peter D. SHAPINSKY -- Elusive islands of silver : Japan in the early European geographic imagination / OKA Mihoko -- Mapping ...