KOWASE Tome
Born: 8 July 1872 – Died: 28 February 1944
Particulars:
Tome was born in Yukawa, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan and arrived in Western Australia around the age of 19. Tome worked as a market gardener in Howatharra, north of Geraldton, a region opened up to agricultural development in the early 1900s and named after a local Aboriginal water source, Howetparrah Well. Tome maintained close ties with fellow gardener Okubo Hidenosuke. Following the outbreak of the Pacific War in 1941, Tome was arrested and had to surrender his possessions, including all his farming tools, which were entrusted to Arthur Burgess. Initially held at Woodman’s Point in 1942, he was transferred to Tatura Internment Camp in Victoria. After two years in internment, he died on 28 February 1944 at the age of 71. Tome is buried in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Jo Anne Shiosaki
More info:
Ben Shiosaki with Cooper Pratt
Artist/s Statement:
My young nephew Cooper Pratt was keen to be involved in the project and adopted Tome Kowase. Cooper said:
‘I am 14 and live in Geraldton. My great-grandfather was interned at Tatura and my paternal grandparents have farmed in the region near Howatharra for decades, and grow the sweetest mandarins in the district. I could just imagine how hard it was in the early days working the land and trying to make a living, then suddenly losing everything you worked so hard for. I am interested in trying to find the plot of land Tome leased in Howatharra.’
Artist Bio:
Ben Shiosaki is a fourth-generation Nikkei who resides in Geraldton, Western Australia. With a passion for history and photography, he believes these stories and legacies in the When You Call My Name Project should not be forgotten. Cooper Pratt is Ben’s nephew.