TANAKA Taichiro
Born: 17 October 1875 – Died: 31 December 1945
Particulars:
Taichiro / Tom was born in Obama, Nagasaki, Japan in 1875. He was a diver, boat builder, merchant, and agriculturalist. He worked in the Torres Strait, Australia as a young man. Around the turn of the 20th century, he made what is now Papua New Guinea the base for his business. He married Didiloiloi from Mohiwa, Milne Bay, and started a family. 40 years later, he had six ships and a 100-acre farm employing local people. He was arrested on 9 December 1941, despite the local Australian intelligence officer stating he was not a security risk. He was taken to Australia, and became ill during internment at Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia, and was hospitalised from May 1945. He died in the camp hospital on the last day of 1945. He was 68 years old. A friend, Murakami Heijiro, returning to his family in Papua New Guinea after the war, brought Taichiro / Tom’s daughter Mary a lock of her father’s hair – the only thing of his to have survived the war.
–Sophie Constable
More info:
Sophie Constable and Deveni Temu
Artist/s Statement:
This work digitally interweaves leiaha and tatami mats with imagery from Japan, the Torres Strait, and finally Milne Bay, Papua, where Taichiro Tom Tanaka settled and wove himself into the local community through marriage and having a family. Mats are highly valued cultural items in the Pacific, including in Papua New Guinea, for daily domestic use as well as a gift and exchange commodity. Likewise in Japan, tatami are everyday living mats but also important in things like the tea ceremony. They mark both the change and continuity in Taichiro Tom Tanaka’s life.
Artist Bio:
Sophie Constable is an artist, scientist, researcher, and educator at The Australian National University in Canberra.
Deveni Temu retired from the Pacific Librarian position in December 2017, and is now Research Officer at the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, The Australian National University in Canberra, Australia. He is a direct descendant of a Papuan carrier/labourer during the World War II Kokoda Trail Campaign.