15th-century world map restored

KYOTO--Researchers at Ryukoku University have restored one of the few surviving maps of the world as known in the early 15th century.

They reproduced faded colors and letters through high-tech analysis and processing.

The map is believed to have been created in 1402 during the early part of China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), ahead of the Age of Exploration.

China is depicted as a large land mass at the center. The map, drawn on silk cloth measuring 1.5 meters by 1.6 meters, was apparently the work of cartographers in the Korean Peninsula.

Researchers led by Yoshihiro Okada, a professor of information technology, used a digital camera with more than 350 million pixels, along with fluorescent X-ray and other technologies, to complete the project.(IHT/Asahi: November 24,2009)