This sugoroku was published as a New Year's supplement to Osaka Mainichi Shinbun, a daily newspaper that is still in print today as Mainichi Shinbun. The game is played similar to a snakes and ladder game, beginning in Japan, and winding its way through the world to end in London. The map depicts primarily the northern hemisphere, omitting much of South America and Africa, and is oriented with north to the left. Along the way, players are treated to cartoonish images of people, animals, and important sites in countries around the world. These include Charlie Chaplin, baseball, the statue of liberty, and a portrait of George Washington in the United States; a portrait of Lenin and a dog-sledding team in Russia; the Eiffel tower, the leaning tower of Pisa, a bull fight, and a zeppelin in Europe; a pyramid, the sphinx and native animals in northern Africa; and a cannibal in New Guinea, a rather common image in sugoroku that instilled fear of dark-skinned aboriginals.

The rules of the game are included at bottom right, explaining the modes of transportation that could be used in the game. Transportation was an important theme in this game, with ships flying the Rising Sun flag scattered throughout the seas to symbolize Japanese explorations and naval activities around the world. The game board is surrounded by flags of the nations around the world, with the Japanese military flag and national flag at top. A fascinating and uncommon sugoroku.

References:

Condition: B+

A bright example, issued folding, with very light soiling. There are a few small holes in the image, minor separations along the folds, and tiny tears along the edges of the sheet.