Pink Tentacle has larger versions of 14 beautiful travel posters produced by Japanese steamship companies. These were from the early 20th century, when travel itself was supposed to be as luxurious as the destination. Link
They're all interesting, but the last one on that page is really gorgeous. I'd hang a print of it on my wall.
They're beautiful advertisements, but I'm wondering if dudes in Japan are against women smiling? There's one poster where she's just barely smiling, but isn't elegance supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable, even if it isn't what's traditionally found to be "fun"?
Interesting! I read about that in my asian history text, but it was talking about the 1800s...I didn't know that continued for so long. There are several Japanese exchange students in one of my classes and they're always giggling and smiling, and when I saw their travel pictures from their other trips, they were smiling and doing the "peace" sign all the time.
Notice why the map has Korea at the center? The ad actually reads "Korean Cruises Corporation" at the top. Therefore, it's a Korean advertisement targeted at Japanese.
I love classic voyage/travel posters. I also like the look on that mothers face. A slight bit of aprehension perhaps, as her daughter tells her she's going to travel the world and be an explorer when she grows up, maybe?
This is a beautiful picture, but a little disturbing considering the history of Japanese Imperialism. That little kid is checking out a map of Korea, which the Japanese are about to rape like they did Nanjing.
A good analogy would be a German poster from the 40's, with a picture of Anne Frank saying "come visit beautiful Nazi-occupied Holland!"
Not everything fancy has to come from Japan.
I also like the look on that mothers face. A slight bit of aprehension perhaps, as her daughter tells her she's going to travel the world and be an explorer when she grows up, maybe?
A good analogy would be a German poster from the 40's, with a picture of Anne Frank saying "come visit beautiful Nazi-occupied Holland!"