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A book that documents the relationship between Western Australia and Japan, published by The University of Western Australia's Westerly Centre, will be launched at Parliament House next week.

An Enduring Friendship: Western Australia and Japan - Past, Present and Future is a collection of almost 40 essays, reflections and images from academics from universities in Australia and Japan as well as contributors including Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi and former newspaper columnist Andre Malan.

Topics include pearling, Japanese pioneer women, Japanese internments in WA in World War II, the Australia First movement; Sir Charles Court and the Japanese; trade; teaching Japanese as a second language; Japanese tourism; multiculturalism; and the long-term economic relationship.

The idea for the book was sparked four years ago from discussions between the then Consul-General of Japan in Perth, Hiroyuki Ariyoshi; co-editor, Emeritus Professor David Black, of Curtin University of Technology; and co-editor, UWA's Asian Studies Assistant Professor Sachiko Sone.

Its cover features a wattle spray and a cherry blossom branch superimposed over maps of the two places. Inside, the book is divided into sections: Early Contacts; the Interwar Years and World War II; the Early Postwar Era; Mining Development and Trading; Social, Cultural and Educational Relationships; and the Long-Term Relationships.

Images range from the 1884 watercolour by Suzuki Keikun of an American schooner overturned on a reef near Ujae; and photos of Japanese pearl-divers at the beginning of the 20th century; the visit of the Japanese Fleet in 1928; a Japanese war bride and her family in 1953; Marubeni-Iida representatives at the Mt Tom Price ore body in 1963; to a 1972 advertisement for a summer cruise to Japan; and many maps, tables and graphs.

The Premier, Colin Barnett, who co-wrote the foreword, will launch the book at 6pm on Tuesday, 18 August. Torao Sato, Consul-General of Japan in Perth, who also wrote the foreword, will be at the launch, as will Assistant Professor Sone.

Media references

Assistant Professor Sachiko Sone (+61 8) 6488 2979
Janine MacDonald (UWA Public Affairs) (+61 8) 6488 5563 / (+61 4) 32 637 716