Visions of a Mutual Pacific Destiny: the Japan-Australia Society, 1896–1942
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Visions of a Mutual Pacific Destiny: The Japan-Australia Society, 1896–1942 Shane Cahill Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy March 2019 School of Historical and Philosophical Studies The University of Melbourne ii Abstract The Japan-Australia Society has been an elusive presence in Australian thought and historiography. The exclusive body was made up of one hundred leading business people involved in trade with Japan, along with supportive academics and others well- disposed to Japan. It did not seek out publicity from the time of its formation by the Japanese Government and Navy in Sydney in 1928. Its absence from Australian consideration of the relationship with Japan points to the extent to which support and admiration for Japan among business and primary producers from the time of Japan’s forced re-entry into world affairs in the mid-nineteenth century until the outbreak of war in December 1941 has been underestimated. The result has been an unbalanced portrayal of the relationship, producing a lop- sided periodisation of Australian economic and external relations. This thesis restores the place of advocates and practitioners of closer relations with Japan in Australian interwar history. It identifies the establishment of Australia as a crucial point in Japanese moves to international trade power in 1896, when Sydney became one of the “Big Three” points of Japanese global economic activity. In all of these activities, Australians partnered with the Japanese as the shipping agents for Japanese lines, stevedores at the wharves, insurance and banking facilitators, wool brokers and haulers of iron ore, minerals, wheat, tallow, and hides. Australians stored Japanese textiles and household items bound for major department stores, discount chains and regional general stores. Japanese merchants, managers and government officials worked with Australians. These commercial, personal and political bonds between Australians and the Japanese were at odds with prevailing opinions in Australia. They became inconvenient when the nations became combatants in 1941. Records were destroyed and the relationship subsequently obscured, denied and forgotten. The thesis recreates this world by reconstructing the physical landscape, recreating the business partnerships through commercial records and drawing on surviving Japanese foreign office and military material. It examines the motives of Society members, Japan’s role in fostering and directing the partnership, and the political influence exerted by these Australians. The thesis examines the role of the commander of the paramilitary old Guard, Major Jack iii Scott as a Japanese propagandist who pre-empted Government policy in 1934 by reports on a Japanese-sponsored tour of its empire; and of Percy Spender, who as a Society member used his influence as Treasurer and Army Minister in the Menzies Government in 1940–41 to assist Japanese policy. The thesis then considers the positions Society members first took after war broke out in December 1941, when Japan enjoyed success beyond expectations, and then the actions they took to re-focus their commercial and political efforts and erase their earlier support when it became clear that Japan would not prevail. This distortion and omission continued when the next generation of friendship societies formed in the 1960s without acknowledging the antecedent foundation Society and the relationship between Australia and Japan it had advocated. This is to certify that: i) the thesis compromises only my original work towards the PhD. ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used. iii) the thesis is 102,344 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. iv Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the guidance, encouragement and assistance offered to me by my Principal Supervisor, Associate Professor Barbara Keys, and by my Co-Supervisor, Professor Stuart Macintyre. Their warmth and generosity contributed greatly to making this project as enjoyable as it has been challenging. I also wish to thank staff at the National Archives of Australia Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne Reading Rooms; The University of Melbourne Archives and Baillieu Library; State Library of Victoria; Mitchell Library Sydney; Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon, Eugene; Oregon State Archives, Salem; Oregon Historical Society, Portland; the Huntington Library, Los Angeles; Special Collections at the University of Washington, Seattle; National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC; National Archives of Japan, Tokyo; Yokohama Archives on History and the Research Collections Waseda University, Tokyo. I also thank Robert Whitelaw for allowing me to use the facilities and archives of the Union, Universities and Schools Club, Sydney. The Faculty of Arts and School of Historical and Philosophical Studies provided GRATS financial assistance to enable me to visit a number of these archives and libraries. This is to certify that: i) the thesis compromises only my original work towards the PhD. ii) due acknowledgement has been made in the text to all other material used. iii) the thesis is 102,343 words in length, exclusive of tables, maps, bibliographies and appendices. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv Abbreviations vi Introduction 1 Chapter One Foundations, 1860–1926 18 Chapter Two ‘By Australians in Australia to advance Japanese interests’: the Japan-Australia Society as an expression of imperialist internationalism, 1927–1928 35 Chapter Three The Japan-Australia Society as an agent of Japanese policy, 1928–1934 51 Chapter Four Japan’s 1935 diplomatic and propaganda offensive 77 Chapter Five Challenges and new demands, 1936–1939 103 Chapter Six Narrowing choices: from peace to war, 1939–1940 136 Chapter Seven 1941: Over the ordinary bounds of prudence 166 Chapter Eight An unnatural death: the Society as an enemy organisation, 1942 201 Conclusion 225 Bibliography 237 Appendices 265 vi Abbreviations ABC Australian Broadcasting Commission ACTU Australian Council of Trade Unions AIF Australian Imperial Force AIIA Australian Institute of International Affairs ASIO Australian Security Intelligence Organisation AWB Australian Wheat Board BHP Broken Hill Proprietary CIB Commonwealth Intelligence Branch CPA Communist Party of Australia CSS Commonwealth Security Service CT Canberra Times DCN Daily Commercial News and Shipping Lists DT Daily Telegraph FETB Far Eastern Trade Bulletin IJN Imperial Japanese Navy IPA Institute of Public Affairs IPR Institute of Pacific Relations JACR Japan Center for Asian Historical Records JTM Japan Times and Mail KBS Kokusai Bunka Shinkokai (Society for International Cultural Relations) MI Military Intelligence vii MPI Military Police Intelligence MTSR Monthly Trade and Shipping Review NAA National Archives of Australia NARA National Archives and Records Administration NEI Netherlands East Indies NLA National Library of Australia NYK Nippon Yusen Kaisha NYT New York Times OM Osaka Mainichi OSK Osaka Shosen Kaisha POW Prisoner of war RAAF Royal Australian Air Force SMH Sydney Morning Herald SMR South Manchurian Railway UAP United Australia Party WW Workers Weekly YKK Yamashita Kisen Kaisha YSB Yokohama Specie Bank Introduction Japan has been an enduring source of fascination and fear for Australians. Academic attention has focussed on the negative aspects of the relationship. This thesis argues that the extent of support and admiration for Japan among business and primary producers from the time of Japan’s forced re-entry into world affairs in the mid- nineteenth century until the outbreak of war in December 1941 has been underestimated. These commercial, personal and political bonds between Australians and the Japanese were at odds with prevailing opinions in Australia. They became inconvenient when the nations became combatants in 1941 and were subsequently obscured, denied and forgotten. The result has been an unbalanced portrayal of the relationship, producing a lop-sided periodisation of Australian economic and external relations. This thesis restores the place of advocates and practitioners of closer relations with Japan in Australian interwar history. It examines first their motives, Japan’s role in fostering and directing the partnership, and the political influence exerted by these Australians. The thesis then considers the positions they first took after war broke out, when Japan enjoyed success beyond expectations, and then the actions they took to re-focus their commercial and political efforts and erase their earlier support when it became clear that Japan would not prevail. The Japanese empire, as it was, automatically became Australia’s ally when it joined Great Britain in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1902. In 1941, it became the enemy of both. In the post-war period, Japan surpassed Britain as Australia’s major trading partner.1 Not surprisingly, the period from 1941 to 1945, when the nations were at war, is well known, as are the apparently fulfilled predictions of the politicians and the authors of sensationalist novels in the decades preceding the conflict. In recent years, Japan’s status as an ally in the earlier Great War and the role played by its Navy in escorting Australian and New Zealand troops to the Middle East have been fitted into the national story. Japan’s emergence as Australia’s best customer for primary produce and minerals and its role in manufacturing appear as a post-war phenomenon.