Sound of our Summer Seas

There is some evidence that Japanese people may have visited Australia before the Europeans settled here. The Japanese government legalised emigration in 1866 and twernty-four passports to Australia were issued between 1868 and 1882. The first Japanese settler to arrive in Queensland in the 1870s was a circus acrobat. By the end of the century nearly 4000 Japanese lived in Australia, and 88% of them in Queensland. Few people realise that Townsville in North Queensland hosted the first Japanese Consuls based in Australia. They served their countrymen who were working in the pearling, trochus shell and sugar industries. The previously little known and fascinating story of Townsville’s Japanese Consuls, which is superbly illustrated by Townsville-based artist Tate Adams, will surprise and delight.