Japan-based video game translator and long-time Ziff Davis contributor Andrew Vestal has added a highly amusing weblog entry to his site - a scanned version of the North American map from the Japanese Sega Saturn RPG Tengai Makyou: Daishi no Mokushiroku (The 4th Apocalypse).

According to Vestal: "This is a Saturn RPG famed for its historical parody humor; the first three games take place in Japan, but the fourth is set in America... This map is basically what would happen if you got a bunch of Japanese guys in a room, got them drunk, and then asked them to draw what they could remember about America on a bar napkin." And he's right, dagnabbit.

However, new GamesRadar senior editor Christian 'Ferricide' Nutt turns up in the comments to provide a little more useful context: "It’s worth noting that the “japan” of the first 3 (and spinoffs, and presumably the new) games in the series is based on the (fictional?) 1800s writings of a westerner called PH chada (or something — only seen it in katakana) who knew absolutely f*ck all about japan. the “japan” of tengai makyou is called “zipang” in fact." Ah, so the map is intentionally awful? We're unintentionally confused, at this point.

[UPDATE: Commenter El and the HG101 Tengai guide help clarify that: "Of course, P.H. Chada doesn't actually exist. It's merely a pseudonym for the entire development team." But he exists in our hearts?]