这套《亚细亚大观》是由亚细亚写真大观社（大连）编辑的一部记录亚洲（主要为中国）文化的照片集，涵盖风景、宗教、民俗、人物等多方面。照片旁边附有日文介绍，摄影者、拍摄地、时间等。此套共16辑，含照片约1891枚，出版年代为1924年到1940年。
“九一八”前后，为大量获取中国情报，日本在我国成立了不少如“亚细亚写真大观社”或“大东亚写真社”这样的情报机构，派出大量情报人员以摄影的方式对中国全境进行全方位的扫描：城镇、乡村、车站、码头、名胜古迹、商业街、重要厂矿等，其拍摄范围之广、内容之丰富，前所未闻。这些情报机构的总部通常设在“伪满”，同时在内地其他重要城市设有分部。情报人员日常“工作任务”就是将其拍摄的照片发表在“亚细亚写真大观社”下属的杂志《亚细亚写真大观》上，每张照片上都配有一张印有日文说明的标签，上有题名、拍摄地点、情况简介等，并在每期上都附有“严禁复制”的字样。
与其他杂志相比，《亚细亚写真大观》有两个特别之处：一是它被当时的日本天皇钦定为“供奉天皇陛下和皇后陛下睿览”的特别刊物；二是它拥有一些像军政首脑田中义一（1864～1929）这样的固定“名誉赞助员”。田中义一是“田中奏折”的炮制者和两次出兵中国东北的急先锋。他在向天皇上奏侵华文书时扬言：“欲征服中国，必先征服满蒙；欲征服世界，必先征服中国。”这个以“拍摄中国”为主业的杂志社由田中义一担任“名誉赞助员”，其良苦用心和蓄谋不言自明。旗下摄影师凭灵敏的嗅觉和视觉，以“出生入死费尽心机”的意志为代价，对中国全境的资源、人物和文化，几乎是无孔不入地进行“掠影”和研究。无论是照片本身，还是有时略显“含混”的文字注解，都让观者深切意识到：这批画面清晰、印制精良的照片，不但是日本难以掩饰的侵华野心的铁证，在文化史、国际关系史、抗日战争史的研究上也具有较高价值。
在数千幅照片中，中国的城镇、乡村影像占据相当大的比重。岛崎役治所感兴趣的主要是具有特殊意义的客货站、海港码头、桥梁、粮仓、交通和公路设施、中心广场、名胜古迹、商业街、重要厂矿，等等。他几乎是千篇一律地拍下了每个城市的城墙、城门以及鸟瞰式的城镇全景。对一些重要的军事要地，岛崎役治更是不厌其烦地反复拍摄。如在被日本人认为可“挟武汉而治中国”的武汉三镇，他不仅拍摄了全景、近景、交通要道、商业中心，还对三镇及郊外的一些标志性建筑进行了拍摄。
This set of “The Grand View of Asia” is a collection of photos recording Asian (mainly Chinese) culture edited by the Asia Realistic Grand View Society (Dalian), covering landscapes, religions, folk customs, people and other aspects. The photo is accompanied by a Japanese introduction, photographer, shooting place, time, etc. This set consists of 16 volumes, including about 1891 photos, and was published from 1924 to 1940.

Before and after the “September 18th”, in order to obtain a large amount of information from China, Japan set up many intelligence agencies in China, such as the “Asia Photos Society” or the “Great East Asia Photos Society”, and sent a large number of intelligence personnel to scan the entire territory of China in the form of photography: cities and towns, villages, stations, docks, scenic spots, commercial streets, important factories and mines, and so on. The scope and content of photography are unprecedented. The headquarters of these intelligence agencies are usually located in “Manchukuo”, and they also have branches in other important cities in the mainland. The daily “work task” of the intelligence personnel is to publish the photos they take on the magazine “Asia Photo Gallery”, which is subordinate to the “Asia Photo Gallery”. Each photo is equipped with a label with a Japanese description, with the title, shooting location, brief introduction, etc., and the words “No duplication” are attached to each issue.

Compared with other magazines, the Asiatic Realistic Grand View has two special features: first, it was designated by the Japanese emperor at that time as a special publication “dedicated to His Majesty the Emperor and His Majesty the Queen’s Reign”; Second, it has some fixed “honorary sponsors”, such as the military and political leader Yoichi Tanaka (1864~1929). Yoichi Tanaka was the producer of the “Tanaka Memorial” and the pioneer of two military missions to Northeast China. When playing the instrument of aggression against China to the emperor, he threatened: “If you want to conquer China, you must first conquer Manchuria and Mongolia; if you want to conquer the world, you must first conquer China. By virtue of their sensitive sense of smell and vision, and at the cost of their will to “go out of their way to death”, their photographers have “skimmed” and studied the resources, characters and culture of the whole territory of China almost everywhere. Both the photos themselves and the sometimes slightly “ambiguous” text annotations make the viewers deeply aware that these pictures with clear and well-printed images are not only the ironclad evidence of Japan’s undisguised ambition to invade China, but also of high value in the study of the history of culture, international relations and the history of the Anti-Japanese War.

In thousands of photos, China’s urban and rural images account for a large proportion. The main interests of the Shimazaki Administration are passenger and freight stations with special significance, seaports and wharves, bridges, granaries, transportation and highway facilities, central plazas, scenic spots, commercial streets, important factories and mines, and so on. He almost invariably captured the city walls, gates and bird’s-eye panoramic view of every city. For some important military sites, Kuji Shimazaki has never tired of shooting repeatedly. For example, in the three towns of Wuhan, which were considered by the Japanese to be able to “seize Wuhan and rule China”, he not only shot the panoramic view, close shot, traffic arteries, business centers, but also some landmark buildings in the three towns and suburbs.

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