MAESHIMA Yokichi
Born: 31 March 1922 – Died: 26 May 1945
Particulars:
Yokichi was born in Shingu in Wakayama Prefecture. He was a single man, a cook by trade and arrived in Waibene / Thursday Island in Queensland, Australia in April 1940. The Pacific War broke out less than two years later and he was interned at Hay Internment Camp in New South Wales. Yokichi was later transferred to Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia because of prisoner reclassification, however he was sent back to Hay a couple of months later. At the time of his arrest, he had about 30 pounds deposited on Waibene / Thursday Island, 10 pounds 17 shillings retention money for his passage, 21 pounds 7 shillings owing to him from Wyben Plg Co, and personal clothing. He was admitted to the camp hospital and died of nephritis at age 23. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery in Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–Mari Suzuki
More info:
Mari Suzuki
Artist/s Statement:
Food cooked on pearling luggers later slipped into the mixed cuisine of the Torres Strait. Cooks generally have a set of knives which they protect carefully. The antique handmade porcelain grater is a Japanese kitchen staple. It produces a fine puree that accompanies sashimi dishes. The grater and bamboo cooking chopsticks were used in the Suzuki family kitchen for decades.
Artist Bio:
Mari Suzuki is a fourth-generation Japanese Australian whose parents and family members were born on Thursday Island in Queensland, Australia, and were interned at Tatura Interment Camp in Victoria during the war.