“Glimpses of the East” and the World: Development and Representation of Tourism in the Interwar Years

Glimpses of the East was an annual publication launched in 1916 by Nippon Yusen Kaisha (N.Y.K.), Japan Steamship Company. Each issue of this “yearbook” was about 700 to 800 pages and contained hundreds of advertisements. The publication was much more than a shipper’s guide. Its audience was to be, beyond those involved in industry, commerce, and trade, middle-class and educated potential travelers and tourists. This little-studied series, I argue, was one of the most sophisticated and influential of publications of the inter-war years and beyond, on the development and in particular the publicity of tourism. I will trace the origins and evolution of this intriguing series, presenting the most salient themes of the publication’s vast content material in the context of the rapid development of tourism around the world. I will pay particular attention to both the phenomenon and representation of colonial tourism in Asia, including in colonial Korea, French Indochina, and British India as can be gleaned through this publication.