KASHIMA Toyokichi
Born: 13 January 1878 – Died: 13 September 1944
Particulars:
Toyokichi was born in Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. He arrived in Naarm / Melbourne, Australia aboard the Kasuga Maru in 1901. He was working for a laundry in Toowoomba, Queensland when the Pacific War broke out. Prior to the war, Toyokichi had been investigated for subversive activities due to his association with the laundry that employed him, although there are documents clearing Toyokichi of ‘subversive activities and anti-Britain sentiments’. Toyokichi was interned at Hay Internment Camp in New South Wales and died due to general poor health. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Cara-Ann Simpson
More info:
Cara-Ann Simpson
Artist/s Statement:
Toyokichi lived and worked in Toowoomba, the closest city to where I live. Through documents held at the National Archives of Australia, I was able to piece together some of Toyokichi’s life. There are many inconsistencies in the documents, so building his life story was as much about Australia’s prejudicial attitudes and system at the time, as about Toyokichi himself. The files indicated that he may have provided information to the Commonwealth Investigation Branch under a pseudonym regarding subversive activities in the Toowoomba and Gatton region. There is a file referred to as a ‘secret submission’ and Toyokichi’s file is filled with other people’s information, without much personal details about himself.
He was born in January 1878, which was the year of the tiger. I recorded Toyokichi’s name as a spectrograph (visual analysis of sound waves) and used them to evoke the notion of tiger stripes in the image. The flower is the Ming asparagus fern (asparagus macowanii), which is indigenous to south-eastern Africa. I used this plant to symbolise three things. Japanese funerals often incorporate white flowers and may be used to symbolise peace, purity, and grief. The flowers of the Ming asparagus fern remind me of cherry blossoms, one of Japan’s iconic flowers. The Ming asparagus fern is classed as ‘alien’ to Australia, finding a parallel to Toyokichi. Toyokichi Kashima’s name is called as a signature and as sound’s memory – it is an echo that calls Toyokichi Kashima’s name for an eon.
Artist Bio:
Cara-Ann Simpson is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, and author based on the lands of the Wakka Wakka Nation in southern Queensland, Australia. Her work encompasses the arts, culture, tourism, festival, and land management sectors. Cara-Ann’s practice engages with sensory perception, deep listening, and environmental interaction. She is the recipient of the Heysen Prize for Landscape 2022, University of Ballarat Artist Prize 2012, and Hobday and Hingston Bursary 2007. She has received funding from Creative Australia, Arts Queensland, Arts Victoria, and the Regional Arts Fund for Australian and international projects.