Machi Chizu

No, I am not talking about ancient cities in Peru; machi chizu are local street maps in Japan. They sort of resemble mall maps that instead show you where all the streets are, complete with a "you are here" pin marking your current location.

Machi chizu give are posted on street corners or in front of apartment buildings and give you a "snap shot" of the surrounding area. They are usually about 3 feet by 2 feet big and are printed on a hard plastic are usually free-standing and held up by metal pipes.

These have been around for decades, long before Google Maps and GPS navigation systems were even thought of, and must have been indispensable if you were new to the area and wanted to know what was nearby and also if you were looking for the house of a friend for the first time.

While a great idea, I am not sure if these would work in America as they would most likely be graphited (is that a word?) or people would mark the houses of their ex-girlfriends on the map along with some captions detailing the various services that they would be willing to provide for the right price.

But no one can deny that American men would have loved these maps; they would never have had to ask for directions.

Ever.