In 1994 presentations of Sketchbook IV were made in Sapporo and Hakodate, Japan and Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.
A Japanese publication states simply:
At the time when Blakiston worked in Hokkaido as a businessman, nobody had ever investigated nature in Hokkaido. Then came this man with wide experience through explorations of the Yangtze River (China) and Canada. Attracted by the charm of nature in Hokkaido, he devoted himself to a full study of its birds and animals.
A sketchbook was presented to students of Sapporo, Japan's, Hokkai High School which is only a few minutes away from where Blakiston's collection of bird specimens can be found.
A second presentation was made at the museum in the seacoast resort city of Hakodate. For many years Blakiston had been one of the leading citizens. A marker along the boardwalk points out the contribution he made in bringing instruments from England to set up the first modern weather observatory in the area. At the top of Mt. Hakodate, the city's major landmark, there is a monument honouring Thomas Blakiston. Below, separating the northern island of Hokkaido from the rest of Japan, is the Tsugaru Straits now known in scientific circles as the Blakiston Line.
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