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Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII: Progress of Research & Artwork
Last update: 20.Jan.2025

Enemy Aliens
I have been researching history of Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII for the global research project Past Wrongs Future Choices (PWFC) I involved in.
During the Second World War, many people of Japanese ancestry who lived in Australia were imprisoned in internment camps. In 1941, Australia was officially at war with Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, USA. In Australia, government officials decided to intern 'enemy aliens' – people connected to countries who were at war with Australia. This included people of Japanese, German and Italian ancestry. 1141 Japanese were interned in Australia, including naturalised subjects, Australian-born children and wives of Japanese residents.
Reference:
National Archives of Australia Wartime Internment of Japanese Australians
https://pastwrongsfuturechoices.com
During the Second World War, many people of Japanese ancestry who lived in Australia were imprisoned in internment camps. In 1941, Australia was officially at war with Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbor, USA. In Australia, government officials decided to intern 'enemy aliens' – people connected to countries who were at war with Australia. This included people of Japanese, German and Italian ancestry. 1141 Japanese were interned in Australia, including naturalised subjects, Australian-born children and wives of Japanese residents.
Reference:
National Archives of Australia Wartime Internment of Japanese Australians
https://pastwrongsfuturechoices.com

Through the artwork
I am creating concept with draft to express those research into my artwork. And I began to weaving with their story and emotion into the artwork: fishing nets for mapping their lives with complex patterns of human relationships.
My involvement in PWFC project is not only to deepen my personal understanding and gain knowledge about culture and history, but also pay homage to the Japanese people of previous generations and their descendants, who have contributed to the buildng of the Japanese/Nikkei community today, as well as through artwork, I aim to convey the history of Japanese in Australia, from the pre-war, wartime, and post-war periods, and connect people by sharing their experiences and the ways they have lived and evolved to the present day.
My involvement in PWFC project is not only to deepen my personal understanding and gain knowledge about culture and history, but also pay homage to the Japanese people of previous generations and their descendants, who have contributed to the buildng of the Japanese/Nikkei community today, as well as through artwork, I aim to convey the history of Japanese in Australia, from the pre-war, wartime, and post-war periods, and connect people by sharing their experiences and the ways they have lived and evolved to the present day.

三種の神器
- 麻糸
- 網針
- 縄
- 網針
- 縄

Preparing for weaving

Red Uniforms
Red is key colour, specifically “Burgundy” in a type of dark red. All male internees and Prisoner of War (POW) were issued “Red Uniforms”, they coloured Burgundy, as deep and dark red colour dyed with military uniforms.
Reference:
*Unwanted Aliens: Japanese interment in Australia by Yuriko Nagata I University of Queensland Press 1996
*Four Years Life in a Red Coat: The Loveday Interment Camp Diary of Miyakatsu Koike I Wakefield Press 2021
Reference:
*Unwanted Aliens: Japanese interment in Australia by Yuriko Nagata I University of Queensland Press 1996
*Four Years Life in a Red Coat: The Loveday Interment Camp Diary of Miyakatsu Koike I Wakefield Press 2021

糸慣らし
糸の硬さや滑り、結び具合を確認。
今回使用するのは黄麻=ジュートと呼ばれる繊維が長く固い質感の麻糸。
今回使用するのは黄麻=ジュートと呼ばれる繊維が長く固い質感の麻糸。

Identification Numbers
When internees arrived at a camp, a nominal roll was made and internees were photographed and had their fingerprints taken. Local internees were given internee identification numbers at the staging camp where they were first detained. The numbers were prefixed with letters indicating their nationality and the area where they had been arrested. QJ was a Japanese internee from Queensland, WJ from Western Australia, DJ from Darwin, NJ from New South Wales and VJ from Victoria. The identification numbers for females included an F after the area letter.
Source:
P161 Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993
Source:
P161 Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993

Traditional practice of fisherman’s netmaking
I was fortunate to learn the almost lost, traditional practice of fisherman’s netmaking from an elderly Japanese man the late Yoshihiro Akune who worked as a deep-sea pearl diver when he was a young man. He came to Broome in 1967 from Kagoshima Prefecture Japan, with followed his cousin Toshio Sameshima as from Kagoshima who was overwhelming top diver. Toshio Sameshima came to Broome in March 1940 for indentured pearl diver at Streeter & Male Company. The WWII outbreak, he arrested in Broome 8th December 1941, transferred to Harvey (WA) - Loveday (SA) - Woolenook (SA) - Hay (NSW) Interment Camp as PWJM. After the war, most of Japanese forced repatriation to Japan, and he is one of the pre-war diver who came back to Broome in 1955. The street name of “Sameshima Gardens” in Broome, it comes from honer of him.
Reference:
*Toshio Sameshima Interment Identification Number WJ17968
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1 WJ17968, MP1103/2 WJ17968, K1331
Reference:
*Toshio Sameshima Interment Identification Number WJ17968
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1 WJ17968, MP1103/2 WJ17968, K1331

Thread Mapping Data Visualisation
Zoom meeting with Dr Yuriko Nagata and an artist Mayu Kanamori, it was months ago. I shared my proposal to them, it is create thread installation and Japanese internees Thread Mapping Data Visualisation, focus on Western Australia. After the meeting, with the cooperation of Dr Yuriko Nagata, all numbers of WJ/WJF confirmed, and each details of data/information has been gathered. In the future, I will also research information about Darwin, Queensland (Thursday Island), New South Wales, and Victoria.

List - A
Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII - List of Western Australia for Thread Mapping Data Visualization:
287 Japanese internees from Western Australia, included Australia born Japanese, Australia born half Japanese, person who married Japanese and adopted child by Australian.
On 19th January 1942, the ship “Koolinda” left Broome carrying 212 Japanese internees, picked up more Japanese internees various place of Western Australia, and arrived at Fremantle on the 24th January. The men were detained in Harvey Interment Camp, the women and the children were detained in Woodman’s Point Interment Camp, then the family group was transferred to Tatura Interment Camp in Victoria, and the single men were transferred to Loveday Interment Camp in South Australia. There were 281 Japanese internees from Western Australia and 6 more babies were born in Tatura Interment Camp.
Reference:
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1, WJ/WJF Prisoner of War/Internee
*Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993
287 Japanese internees from Western Australia, included Australia born Japanese, Australia born half Japanese, person who married Japanese and adopted child by Australian.
On 19th January 1942, the ship “Koolinda” left Broome carrying 212 Japanese internees, picked up more Japanese internees various place of Western Australia, and arrived at Fremantle on the 24th January. The men were detained in Harvey Interment Camp, the women and the children were detained in Woodman’s Point Interment Camp, then the family group was transferred to Tatura Interment Camp in Victoria, and the single men were transferred to Loveday Interment Camp in South Australia. There were 281 Japanese internees from Western Australia and 6 more babies were born in Tatura Interment Camp.
Reference:
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1, WJ/WJF Prisoner of War/Internee
*Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993

List - B
Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII - List of Western Australia for Thread Mapping Data Visualization:
287 Japanese internees from Western Australia, included Australia born Japanese, Australia born half Japanese, person who married Japanese and adopted child by Australian.
On 19th January 1942, the ship “Koolinda” left Broome carrying 212 Japanese internees, picked up more Japanese internees various place of Western Australia, and arrived at Fremantle on the 24th January. The men were detained in Harvey Interment Camp, the women and the children were detained in Woodman’s Point Interment Camp, then the family group was transferred to Tatura Interment Camp in Victoria, and the single men were transferred to Loveday Interment Camp in South Australia. There were 281 Japanese internees from Western Australia and 6 more babies were born in Tatura Interment Camp.
Reference:
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1, WJ/WJF Prisoner of War/Internee
*Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993
287 Japanese internees from Western Australia, included Australia born Japanese, Australia born half Japanese, person who married Japanese and adopted child by Australian.
On 19th January 1942, the ship “Koolinda” left Broome carrying 212 Japanese internees, picked up more Japanese internees various place of Western Australia, and arrived at Fremantle on the 24th January. The men were detained in Harvey Interment Camp, the women and the children were detained in Woodman’s Point Interment Camp, then the family group was transferred to Tatura Interment Camp in Victoria, and the single men were transferred to Loveday Interment Camp in South Australia. There were 281 Japanese internees from Western Australia and 6 more babies were born in Tatura Interment Camp.
Reference:
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1, WJ/WJF Prisoner of War/Internee
*Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993

PWJM(Prisoner of War Japanese Merchant seaman)
On 12 April 1943, a major reorganisation of internees took place as a result of a government decision to reclassify Japanese merchant seaman as POWs in accordance with a United Kingdom policy newly adopted by the Australian government. Japanese previously engaged in the pearling industry around the Australian coast came into this category. There were 225 at Hay, 151 at Loveday and 5 at Tatura. All were concentrated at Hay. All other single men went to Loveday, and women and family groups remained at Tatura.
Reference:
*National Archives of Australia MP742/1, 255/2/283, 1943
*P164 Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993
Reference:
*National Archives of Australia MP742/1, 255/2/283, 1943
*P164 Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII by Yuriko Nagata I A thesis submitted for the Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History at the University of Adelaide. September 1993

Nikkei Chronicles
Essay “The tale of Two Tomokos” published on the Japanese American National Museum’s Discover Nikkei website.
https://discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2024/11/4/tale-of-two-tomokos
https://discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2024/11/4/tale-of-two-tomokos

History Arrived
Jiro Muramats and his Family - Portrait of the Family Connecting Japan and Australia
Edited by Mayumi Kamada, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business
Jiro Muramats is one of Japanese pioneer in Western Australia, founded the company “J&T Muramats” was successful store operator and pearling business in Cossack. He naturalised British subject, however with the outbreak of the WWII, Jiro arrested in Darwin 12th August 1941 and transported to Loveday interment camp (South Australia) then Tatura interment camp (Victoria). He died on 1943.
Reference:
*Jiro Muramats Interment Identification Number DJ18118
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1 DJ18118, MP1103/2 DJ18118
Edited by Mayumi Kamada, Nagoya University of Commerce and Business
Jiro Muramats is one of Japanese pioneer in Western Australia, founded the company “J&T Muramats” was successful store operator and pearling business in Cossack. He naturalised British subject, however with the outbreak of the WWII, Jiro arrested in Darwin 12th August 1941 and transported to Loveday interment camp (South Australia) then Tatura interment camp (Victoria). He died on 1943.
Reference:
*Jiro Muramats Interment Identification Number DJ18118
*National Archives of Australia MP1103/1 DJ18118, MP1103/2 DJ18118

Migrant from Wakayama Prefecture
Japanese Interment in Australia during WWII:
When I am creating database for my artwork, I took notice that there were many people from Wakayama Prefecture. In January 1942, there were 252 Japanese in Western Australia (exclude Australia born), 156 of whom were from Wakayama Prefecture. If we include Thursday Islands and Darwin, etc., there will be even more. The next most common origins after Wakayama were Nagasaki, Ehime and Kagoshima Prefecture, as same way, most of them were divers who worked pearling industry. We can see some streets signs of Japanese name in Broome, such as Wakayama Crescent, Taiji Road, Tanami Drive, and Oku Way, Nishiji Vista, Shiosaki Brace, Murakami Road, Yamashita Street and Kaino Lane, these are derived from the names of people from Wakayama, as Kanagae Drive, Matsumoto Street and Hatoyama View, they from Nagasaki, they all came to Broome before the war, and they interned during WWII. In this way, the cultural influence of the Japanese remained in Broome.
Reference:
National Archives of Australia MP1103/1, WJ/WJF Prisoner of War/Internee
When I am creating database for my artwork, I took notice that there were many people from Wakayama Prefecture. In January 1942, there were 252 Japanese in Western Australia (exclude Australia born), 156 of whom were from Wakayama Prefecture. If we include Thursday Islands and Darwin, etc., there will be even more. The next most common origins after Wakayama were Nagasaki, Ehime and Kagoshima Prefecture, as same way, most of them were divers who worked pearling industry. We can see some streets signs of Japanese name in Broome, such as Wakayama Crescent, Taiji Road, Tanami Drive, and Oku Way, Nishiji Vista, Shiosaki Brace, Murakami Road, Yamashita Street and Kaino Lane, these are derived from the names of people from Wakayama, as Kanagae Drive, Matsumoto Street and Hatoyama View, they from Nagasaki, they all came to Broome before the war, and they interned during WWII. In this way, the cultural influence of the Japanese remained in Broome.
Reference:
National Archives of Australia MP1103/1, WJ/WJF Prisoner of War/Internee
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