SHIBA Tadatomo
芝忠友
Born: 1 July 1917 – Died: 26 January 1946
Particulars:
Tadatomo was born 1 July 1917 in Kushimoto, Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. As a merchant seaman, he arrived on Waibene /Thursday Island in Australia on 5 March 1936 on the Kitano Maru. He was single and worked as a tender. When the Pacific War broke out and he was arrested as an ‘enemy alien’, he owned: one wristlet watch; 15 pounds taken by the authorities at Thursday Island; 12 pounds 7 shillings in wages; 10 pounds 10 shillings in retention money for passage; a share of Kasuga Boarding House; and personal clothing, among other items. He was housed in Camp 6 at Hay Internment Camp in New South Wales, and refused to sign documents changing his status from civilian internee to prisoner of war. As a sailor in the merchant marines, he knew how to navigate through the Torres Strait. He was admitted to 14 Australian Camp Hospital in August 1945. He died at the age of 28 in January 1946 from pulmonary tuberculosis. His parents lived in Shionomisaki, Kushimoto.
–Mari Suzuki
More info:
Mari Suzuki
Artist/s Statement:
Shiba Tadatomo worked around boats in the pearling industry of the Torres Strait. He would have known the tides, navigation channels, and seasonal weather patterns to travel around the islands. The three views of boats at Thursday Island would have been familiar scenes to him.
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.