Sister Cities tell history of Japan-Australia relations
Japanese
cemetery in the ‘Pearl City' of Western Australia
Broome is situated diagonally opposite from Sydney on the western
coast of Australia. Many Japanese people previously lived here
as part of the pearling industry.
Many of these divers came from Taichi in Wakayama, and Broome
and Taichi signed their sister city agreement in 1981 through this
particular historical link.
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Cable Beach, stretching 22 kilometres across the coastline west of
Broome, is famous for its sunset, and many people crowd the beach at
dusk. After the sun has set behind the Indian Ocean, the sight of the
sky changing from an orange to a deep-red is breathtakingly beautiful.
On the road to the beach, heading away from town, there is a cemetery
for 919 Japanese divers that lost their lives in accidents during pearling
operations. Around 700 headstones are inscribed with the hometowns
of the divers, many of whom came from Taichi in Wakayama prefecture.
Taichi, situated on the southern point of the Kii peninsula, was once
a flourishing whaling community. However, after losing many boats in
the wreck of 1878, Broome and Thursday Island became a popular destination
for the many people went overseas to earn a living.
At the time, shell trawling mainly serviced the production of luxury
buttons, not pearls. As written the short story by Ryotaro Shiba ‘Thursday
Island Soiree', Japanese divers demonstrated adept skills for the dangerous
and difficult pearling work, which involved searching for the shellfish
at the ocean depths relying on an air supply pumped from the ocean
surface far above. At its peak over 20,000 Japanese people worked in
Broome.
Pearling waned after World War II with the introduction of plastic
buttons, pearl cultivation developed as a new key industry with the
introduction of Japanese technology in the 1960s. To commemorate the
long history of ‘The Pearl City', every August since 1970 Broome
has held the ‘Shinju Matsuri' (pearl festival), in connection
with the O-bon Matsuri run by the Japanese Association of Broome. This
festival has grown to be Broome's largest, with all hotels in town
fully booked for the festival's entire 10-day duration.
The Folk Art Preservation Society of Taichi participated in the 30th
Shinju Matsuri, performing traditional whale dances and whale drumming
sets. All five performances concluded with grand applause, and several
encores. Megan Kaino participated in the JET Programme as a assistant
English teacher in Washinomiya, Saitama, for 1 year. Megan's father,
Kunihiko Kaino runs a seafood export business, and was originally a
diver from Taichi. The historical links between Broome and Taichi that
go back to the 19th century have inspired the largest Japanese-named
festival in an Australian city, and played an important role in advancing
Japan-Australia relations for over 3 centuries.
Commencing in 1987, the JET Programme sends young people to Japan
for 1-3 years as language assistants and international relations coordinators
to school and local governments across Japan. The Japanese Department
of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Ministry
of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications, CLAIR
and local governments across Japan support this program. Over 6000
people from 42 countries (417 from Australia) participated in 2000.
MEMO
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During
the Second World War,
Darwin and Townsville
were air-raided by the
Japanese Army, and 16
aircraft carriers were
destroyed when Broome's
port was bombed by zero
fighters on 3 March,
1942. The wreckage from
this attack can be seen
at times of extreme low
tides offshore on Roebuck
Bay. Japanese citizens
were held prisoner during
the war, but the Japanese
people who had lived
in the Broome community
were not treated as enemies.
Prisoners were brought
gifts, taken to shop
in town, and treated
as best as possible. |
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