This promotional poster for the Japanese railways in southern Manchuria, seized from the Russian Empire following the war of 1905, dates from around 1910.

Now part of China, this province was long highly contested, as it lies at the crossroads of four regional powers: Korea, China, Japan, and Russia.

The South Manchuria Railway Company (SMR) was founded by Japan in 1906 and quickly became a major economic and international propaganda instrument. The SMR connected Beijing to Xinjing via Fengtian, while also serving the southern ports of Dalian, Jinzhou, and Chengzitong.

In a carefully balanced composition, featuring an Orientalist setting that remained easily legible to a Western audience, a Japanese woman in a kimono faces the viewer, seated by the window of a train.

The folding fan (“sensu”) in her hand is, for Japanese women, a symbol of femininity, calm, and self-control. The visible rings are a Western touch: traditional Japanese women did not commonly wear them. They were likely added to make the figure more familiar to a European audience.

The cartouche depicting an ocean liner highlights the presence of maritime routes in the Yellow Sea. Indeed, a connection with the famous German shipping company Hamburg-Amerika Linie is mentioned.

The gilded serif typography evokes late Art Nouveau and the Belle Époque.

Linen-backed, this poster measures 30.1 by 41.7 inches.