TSUJIUCHI / TSUKIUCHI Sansuke
Born: 10 February 1876 – Died: 12 September 1945
Particulars:
Sansuke was born in Tanami, Wakayama Prefecture in Japan. He first arrived in Australia in 1893 in Rubibi / Broome, Western Australia, and entered and exited from Broome a few times during the period between 1893 and 1935. He was working as a shell packer for Gregory & Company in Garramilla / Darwin, Northern Territory when the Pacific War broke out. His possessions, when arrested, included clothing and bedding. He was taken to Adelaide River in Northern Territory, then shipped to be interned at Loveday Internment Camp in South Australia. He died of cardiac failure, following a coronary occlusion at the age of 69. His grave is in the Japanese Cemetery, Cowra, New South Wales, Australia.
–WONG Ching Yee (Jenny)
More info:
WONG Ching Yee (Jenny)
Artist/s Statement:
Dear Sansuke,
My apologies for calling you by your given name. I would address you in the polite form as is customary except I am not certain the family name on your grave marker is really your name. In past months, I have been following various paper trails, trying to piece together fragments of your life. I will continue my search with the hope of saying your name properly one day.
Best, Jenny
PS This postcard is a digital collage of a photo I took while standing at the edge of Streeter’s Jetty in June 2024 and some documents relating to you in the National Archives of Australia (including various versions of your name). I did not know our paths would cross when I travelled to Broome. You probably had spent considerable time at this spot too, watching the tides go in and out.
An invitation from Jenny
Please head to the webpage (playwithclay.org/when-you-call-my-name) to see what I have learnt about Mr Tsujiuchi / Tsukiuchi so far. Please reach out if you have more information and help me in my reconstructing his life.
Artist Bio:
WONG Ching Yee (Jenny) is a Hong Kong born art worker based in Sydney, Australia. Having spent extensive periods living, studying, and working in culturally diverse environments, Jenny is deeply interested in transcultural and multi-layered narratives mediated through materiality and tactile experiences. Her practice is grounded in clay – processing, expressing, and archiving her thoughts and emotions of the time. Through art, she invites dialogues, connects with natural and built environments.