Railroad literature on suitable places : The cultural realms of the railways
Type
presentation
Date Issued
2002-11-03
Author(s)
Abstract
My paper addresses issues on the cultural context that has accompanied the expansion of international railroad transportation. I examine the semi-official periodicals and guidebooks on China that the Imperial Japanese Government Railways (I.J.G.R.) and the South Manchuria Railways Company (S.M.R. or Mantetsu) issued from 1907 until 1940. The wealth of the descriptions, illustrations, and maps present in these publications has remained unparalleled. Still, very few geographers and historians have used these propagandistic materials to understand how exactly railroad transportation companies organized the ways in which an Asian country should be seen by European and American visitors. These travel books and pamphlets sought explicitly to enhance the status of Japan as a world power, serve an international elite, direct Westerners as they were touring Asia, and provide them with factual information on what to see, where to stay, how to go there, and what to ignore.
Language
English
Keywords
Manchuria (1907-1945)
travel culture
Japanese colonialism
orientalism
tourism
South Manchuria Railways Company
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Event Title
The Internationality of Railways, 1850-1970 Scientific Symposium
Event Location
Lucerne (Switzerland)
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
215197