Hold a 3D Printed Historical Japanese Battle in the Palm of your Hand

With historical records of major military battles dating back to Japan’s early Jomon Period (10,000–300 BC), the Japanese Archipelago has been home to a rich and complex history of warfare. The battles that took place often radically altered Japanese society for multiple generations and the tactics developed during these periods made the Japanese military one of the best in all of history. Not only did various clans and tribes regularly clash, but Korean invaders often met strong resistance from these early Japanese.

The battles with these Korean horse riders brought tools of war to Japan like horses and bronze weapons that would transform Japan from a collection of loosely aligned clans into a mostly united military juggernaut that would remain a world power until their defeat at the end of World War II. But even a united Japan was far from peaceful, with states often warring with each other for control of the rich farmlands and lucrative trade routes. These massive battles would often incur huge numbers of casualties in the tens of thousands, and topple regimes and eliminate entire bloodlines.

It is one of these eras of internal strife being immortalized by a new line of 3D printable campaign maps by the Rinkak Marketplace. Their first line of Deco Boco Maps features key battles during the Sengoku Warring States Era (late 1500s to early 1600s). Rinkak’s Deco Boco Maps are small 3D printed representations of individual battle locations with realistic and historically accurate terrain and battle conditions. The tiny three-dimensional maps are perfect for Japanese historians, students, historical battle enthusiasts and even tourists interested in some of Japan’s historical sites.

“This campaign covers eight famous battles of Japanese Warring States Era such as the famous Honnoji incident which Oda Nobunaga was forced to commit suicide with his own sword by Akechi Mitsuhide in AC 1582 and the climactic battle of Sekigahara which later decided the ruler of feudal Japan in AC 1600,” explained Rinkak’s Pauline Chen.

The Rinkak Marketplace offers a huge range of 3D printed products, artwork and jewelry, and they custom print any purchases to order. Rinkak offers products of their own design and fabrication, but they also allow other designers to sell their own products. Because everything is made to order, designers can upload their designs for free and offer their products in an entire range of materials as diverse as sandstone, porcelain, metal, plastic and rubber. Their Deco Boco maps are made with a full color sandstone material on a powder bed style 3D printer.

There are eight different 3D printable terrain maps of famous Japanese battles offered, each available for purchase in three different size options. Maps can be printed in sizes ranging from 5 x 5 cm for $17, 7 x 7 cm for $33, or 10 x 10 cm for $50. The maps are printed on full-color 3D printers so you can clearly see all of the important spots on the battlefield. The troop movement lines, key battle formations, locations of interest and landmarks are all clearly marked on the highly detailed three-dimensional maps.

The maps themselves vary in design, from realistic terrain coloring to abstract background art and even a “Google Maps” style design. Users can also alter the maps themselves, add their own backgrounds and even alter the terrain to create their own battle maps. This is only the first series of Deco Boco Maps, and with the long and rich history of Japan expect new eras and battles to be available eventually. And of course we can probably expect creative 3D designers to use the available 3D models to make their own recreations of famous battles.  Discuss this story here.