Representations of Japan and Japanese People in Australian Literature

Representations of Japan and Japanese People in Australian Literature Megumi KATO, M.A. (Tsuda College) Thesis submitted to The University of New South Wales in fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities and Social Sciences The University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy July 2005 Representations of Japan and Japanese People in Australian Literature Contents page Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Originality Statement vi Introduction 1 Part One Early Contact and Impressions Ch. 1 Contacts, Impressions and Premonitions 17 Ch. 2 Short Stories, Serials and ‘Invasion Novels’ from the 1880s to World War II 50 Part Two War-Time Encounters with the Japanese Ch. 3 Fiction of the 1930s and the Pacific War 80 Ch. 4 Prisoner-of-War Narratives in the 1940s and the 1950s 111 Ch. 5 Narratives of the Cowra Breakout and the Occupation Force Experiences 146 Part Three Post World War II to the 1990s Ch. 6 New Writing on Japan from the 1950s to the 1970s 181 Ch. 7 Reflections on the Pacific War since the 1960s 214 Ch. 8 Writing in a Multicultural Context since the 1980s and the 1990s 255 Conclusion 293 Bibliography 307 Chronological Chart of Australia-Japan Relationship 326 i Abstract Representations of Japan and Japanese People in Australian Literature This thesis is a broadly chronological study of representations of Japan and the Japanese in Australian novels, stories and memoirs from the late nineteenth century to the twenty-first century. Adopting Edward Said’s Orientalist notion of the ‘Other’, it attempts to elaborate patterns in which Australian authors describe and evaluate the Japanese. As well as examining these patterns of representation, this thesis outlines the course of their development and change over the years, how they relate to the context in which they occur, and how they contribute to the formation of wider Australian views on Japan and the Japanese. The thesis considers the role of certain Australian authors in formulating images and ideas of the Japanese ‘Other’. These authors, ranging from fiction writers to journalists, scholars and war memoirists, act as observers, interpreters, translators, and sometimes ‘traitors’ in their cross-cultural interactions. The thesis includes work from within and outside ‘mainstream’ writings, thus expanding the contexts of Australian literary history. The major ‘periods’ of Australian literature discussed in this thesis include: the 1880s to World War II; the Pacific War; the post-war period; and the multicultural period (1980s to 2000). While a comprehensive examination of available literature reveals the powerful and continuing influence of the Pacific War, images of ‘the stranger’, ‘the enemy’ and later ‘the ally’ or ‘partner’ are shown to vary according to authors, situations and wider international relations. This thesis also examines gender issues, which are often brought into sharp relief in cross-cultural representations. While typical East-West power-relationships are reflected in gender relations, more complex approaches are also taken by some authors. This thesis argues that, while certain patterns recur, such as versions of the ‘Cho-Cho-San’ or ‘Madame Butterfly’ story, Japan-related works have given some Australian authors, especially women, opportunities to reveal more ‘liberated’ viewpoints than seemed possible in their own cultural context. As the first extensive study of Japan in Australian literary consciousness, this thesis brings to the surface many neglected texts. It shows a pattern of changing interests and interactions between two nations whose economic interactions have usually been explored more deeply than their literary and cultural relations. ii Acknowledgements As an ‘external, part-time, international’ student based in Japan, writing a doctoral thesis at the University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy in Canberra from 1996 to 2005 was only possible with the help, support, kindness and generosity of many people. First and foremost I am deeply grateful to my supervisor Professor Bruce Bennett for his guidance, intellectual supervision, encouragement and patience. Bruce and Trish’s warm hospitality during my twice-a-year stays in Canberra often extended to my family, and I am grateful for their kindness and moral support. I also wish to express my gratitude to Dr. Adrian Caesar, for his advice and assistance while he was my co-supervisor from 1996 to 2002. To Dr. Mark Radford, I am grateful for his patience and guidance in reading all my draft chapters and giving helpful comments and opinions. I obtained the original idea for this thesis when Mark gave me a copy of Slaves of the Samurai by W. Kent Hughes, his great uncle. Since my first visit to Australia in 1982, Professor Anthony and Robin Radford and the Radford family have helped me to understand Australia and its people in a very natural way. I also wish to express my gratitude to the following people: to the academic and administrative staff both at Australian Defence Force Academy and Meisei University; to the library staff at the University of New South Wales, Australian Defence Force Academy, the National Library of Australia (including the Asian Collection) and Meisei University; to the staff at the Australia-Japan Foundation and its library; Professor Dennis Haskell for inviting me to the conferences at the University of Western Australia; Associate Professor Robin Gerster for his advice when he was at ‘Todai’ (Tokyo University); to Dr. Roger Bourke who generously gave me open access to his Ph.D thesis; Dr. Ouyang Yu for giving me permission to read his Ph. D thesis; library staff at La Trobe University; Dr. Lyn Jacobs, who was my tutor at the Flinders University from 1982 to 1983, for showing me her detailed bibliography; Professor Kateryna Longley for giving me access to Dr. Dai Yin’s Ph.D thesis; to the members of the Australia New Zealand Literary Society of Japan and the Australian Studies Association of Japan for their encouragement and intellectual guidance; to my colleagues in the Faculty of Japanese Culture(Meisei University) for their intellectual stimulation, friendship and support; to the many people whom I met at conferences and on other occasions for their generous comments and encouragement. iii Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Motohiko and Yoshiko Toyoizumi, and my parents-in-law, Fumiaki and Michi Kato, for their understanding and support; and my family, Shigeaki and Sali, for their sacrifice, patience and support over the years. During the course of researching this thesis, in Australian and Japan, I have been invited to present papers on some of the material contained in this thesis at national or international symposia and conferences. A number of publications have followed from these presentations and I wish to thank the editors and publishers for their help during the publication process of the following articles: “Australian Literary Images of Japan: A Japanese Perspective”, in Crossing Cultures: Essays on Literatures and Cultures of the Asia-Pacific, ed. Bruce Bennett, Jeff Doyle, Satendra Nandan (London: Skoob, 1996) 195-204. “Madame Izàn, Butterflies and the Incomprehensible Japanese”, in Interactions: Essays on the Literature and Culture of the Asia-Pacific Region, ed. Dennis Haskell and Ron Shapiro (Perth: Nedlands, W.A.: University of Western Australia Press, 2000) 164-170. “The Scared Who Want to Scare: Fear of a Japanese Invasion in Australian Literature”, in Complicities: Connections and Divisions, Perspectives on Literatures and Cultures of the Asia-Pacific Region, ed. Chitra Sankaran, Liew-Geok Leong, Rajeev S. Patke (Bern: Peter Lang, 2003), 43-51. Some articles and essays from this research are published in the following journals in Japan: “Fear of Japan: The Formation of Japanese Invasion Novels in Australian Literature”, the Bulletin of Meisei University, Faculty of Japanese Culture no.6 (1998): 92-101. “Australia Bungaku ni Miru Sozojo no Nippon-jin” (The imaginary Japanese people in Australian Literature, in Japanese), Sozoryoku to Genjitsu Byosha (Imagination and Reality), collected essays v.3 (Tokyo: Faculty of Japanese Culture, Meisei University, 2000) 329-347. “Perceiving ‘the Other’: Australian Literary Response to the Japanese Prisoners-of-War Breakout in Cowra, the Bulletin of Meisei University, Faculty of Japanese Culture no.9 (2001): 17-27. “Rosa Praed no Nippon Shosetsu” (Rosa Praed’s Novel on Japan, in Japanese), collected essays v.5 (Tokyo: Faculty of Japanese Culture, Meisei University, 2002) 265-278. iv “Senso to Hanayometachi: Dai Niji Taisen to Nichi-Go Kankei (1)” (Brides of Japan and Australia in World War II (1), in Japanese), the Southern Hemisphere Review v.18 (2002): 72-79. “’Patterns of Conquest’: Australian Fiction through the Occupation of Japan”, the Bulletin of Meisei University, Faculty of Japanese Culture no. 11 (2003): 17-28. “Senso to Hanayometachi: Dai Niji Taisen to Nichi-Go Kankei (2)”, (Brides of Japan and Australia in World War II (2), in Japanese), the Southern Hemisphere Review v.19 (2003): 25-34. Finally, during the course of research I was supported by a number of grants. In particular I would like to acknowledge the following: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientist, Ministry of Education of Japan, 1997-1998; Grant-in-Aid for Exploratory Research, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, 2000-2001; Suntory Foundation Research Grant, 2001-2002; Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 2004-2005; Risona Asia-Oceania Foundation Research Grant, 2005. v Originality Statement “I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis.

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