Before the horrors of Kokoda and the POW camps, the Japanese played a vital role in the defence and economic security of Australia, says award-winning author Dr Pam Oliver from Monash University.
‘Not only did Japan defend Australia from German raids in World War I, Japanese trade and Australian-based businesses helped ease the economic ravages of the Great Depression,’ she said.
‘During World War I the steady stream of cloth and yarn from England was interrupted, but trade with Japan was reliable and this helped provide jobs and keep the retail sector afloat. The trade bolstered our earning capacity right through the Great Depression and helped stimulate the economy.
‘In the 1920s there were 30 large Japanese trading houses in Australia. Under the 1904 exemptions to the immigration restrictions, which formed part of the White Australia Policy, Japanese merchants integrated well and had no trouble extending their stays. Some lived in Australia for decades. When those who had not left before the war were forcibly repatriated to Japan during and after World War II, some of their children had never set foot on Japanese soil.’
Earlier this month Dr Oliver was announced as the winner of the Northern Territory Chief Minister’s History Book Award for 2007 for Empty North: The Japanese Presence and Australian Reactions 1860s–1942.
‘It’s interesting to consider the extent to which Australia’s new security accord with Japan is a return to the traditional cooperation that existed between 1894 and 1940,’ she said. ‘Australian–Japanese fought in the Australian Imperial Forces in the Middle East and in New Guinea in World War II. And Australian troops have recently worked alongside Japanese forces in Iraq.’
In her research on the Japanese presence and influence in Australia from the 1860s, Dr Oliver has tracked down previously unexamined records in the National Archives collection. ‘This collection is unique in the world,’ she said. ‘When bombs dropped on Pearl Harbour, the records of Japanese trading companies in Australia were seized by the military police, which is how they ended up in the National Archives.’
Dr Oliver will explore Australia’s early relationship with Japan in a public lecture at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra on Tuesday 30 October at 6 pm titled ‘In Peace and War: The Japanese role in the defence and security of Australia to 1943’. Entry is free but bookings are essential at events@naa.gov.au or (02) 6212 3956.