Patent ID: 7801676

Claim:
A navigation apparatus for displaying a map that includes building symbols representing buildings, comprising: a map-drawing unit configured to draw a map of an area from map data and building symbols having predetermined shapes at a position corresponding to positions of buildings on the map at a selected map scale; and a displaying unit configured to display the drawn map, wherein, in a nighttime-map displaying mode, the map-drawing unit draws the entirety of each building symbol in a bright color to generate the map when the map scale exceeds a predetermined threshold and draws a part of each building symbol in a bright color to generate the map when the map scale does not exceed the predetermined threshold, and wherein, when the map scale does not exceed the predetermined threshold in the nighttime-map displaying mode, the map-drawing unit draws a portion of at least one building symbol with a lower brightness when the position of the at least one building symbol shifts to the top of the map.