South Manchurian Railway Cigarette Case "Asia Express. Streamlined Super Express Train "Asia" Rushing Through the Plan"

1st variation.

Ultramodern "Asia Express" ran between Dalian and Xinjing. Building on the perception of the train as the bearer of modernization and industrialization, the sleek, iconic image of the Asia Express frequently featured in South Manchurian Railway maps, postcards, posters and cigarette cases - testified to Mantetsu’s ability to harness technology equivalent to the fastest railways in the West to conquer the so-called "virgin territory" of northeast Asia. It was a symbol of the company’s prestige.​

Streamlined Super-Express Train "Asia" Rushing Through the Plan.

 

2nd variation.

Source: Utopia/Dystopia: Japan’s Image of the Manchurian Ideal by Kari Leanne Shepherdson-Scott Department of Art, Art History, and Visual Studies Duke University, 2012.