The purpose of this study is to reveal the characteristics of national geography textbooks used in Japanese geography education before and after the enactment of the National School Imperial Order in 1941. The procedure of this study firstly analyzes the Japanese school education system when geography textbooks were published, then derives major analytic geography textbooks based on their status in Japanese school education, and finally reveals the characteristics of Japanese geography textbooks. The characteristics of national geography textbooks revealed through this study are as follows. Firstly, the Japanese national geography textbooks were used as a tool to provide high-quality geographic knowledge to learners. The evidence for this is that the provision of up-to-date geographic information on world countries, the establishment of environmental expansion methods for teaching and learning, the use of statistical and overlapping maps, and a description centered on geographical causal relations were observed in the geographic textbooks. Secondly, the national Japanese geography textbooks reflected the perspective of Japanese imperialism through the emphasis of colonial-related narratives and the setting of others to criticize.