mayu kanamori

After the Broome season of In Repose, the team's dancer and choreographer Wakako Asano, sound designer and production manager Vic McEwan and visual artist and producer Mayu Kanamori travelled south to other destinations of interest -- more Japanese graves.

Vic drove 800kms and the three artists arrived in Port Hedland late in the evening without a hotel booking. After making several enquiries for vacancies in this booming town due to mining, found a motel near the beach. The following morning, to their surprise, the artist found that their motel was right next door to the Japanese section of Port Hedland's Pioneer and Pearlers Cemetery.

Wakako danced a private kuyo performance at the Japanese section of this cemetery with a dozen graves. Afterwards Wakako danced again in another part of the cemetery, apparently an older section, which had half a dozen Japanese graves scattered amongst other Asian graves.

The artists travelled further south down the Warlu (sea serpent) Way to the historical town of Roebourne, established in 1866, and was the administrative capital for the North West of Australia. Using information received from a Japanese expatriate in Perth and former resident of Karratha, Mr Go Morimoto, the artists searched for the dozen or so Japanese graves which were located just outside of the grounds of the Roebourne Cemetery.

As the graves were not easy to find, the artists asked a local woman who was with a group of people playing guitar on the balcony of a nearby house. She happened to be a fellow artist, Loreen Samson, who guides younger artists in her community to make art from their hearts. Loreen told the In Repose artists that the Japanese graves were no longer there and that it had been cleared to make space for new housing beside the cemetery and that she remembers them there as a child. She then said she was sad about it and that "this sort of thing happens to us all the time."

Wakako watered the land around the new housing, lit a few incense and had a prayer for those spirits buried there. Then some boys came from one of the two new houses built on where some of the graves had been -- and asked what Wakako was doing. The artists explained and when they told the boys about people being buried there, they asked, "How do you know?" Vic answered, " Some people who have lived here for a long time remember." They asked about Japan. Vic played a tune on a harmonica, which belonged to one of the boys. Wakako danced a little dance and the boys joined this small ceremonial performance with incense.

In Cossack, a historical port town with a significant pearling history, which preceded that of Broome, is a Japanese Cemetery, restored recently by Mitsui Iron Ore Development. The cemetery is next to a European Cemetery and is located by the sea with eight graves and one memorial tower.

Wakako gave the graves water, incense and prayer, read out the names of all the people buried there and danced a private kayo performance for the spirits.

Just before dusk on 10th February, thirty invited guests arrived at the Belgian Gardens Cemetery to for a sneak preview of site-specific multi art project In Repose, during Townsville's annual Heritage Week in May 2007. Inspired by the remains of Japanese graves in Townsville from the turn of the century, four artists from Sydney and one from Tokyo have been holding workshops on site at the cemetery, and have arranged a private viewing for the local residents.

The guests walked slowly from the entrance of the cemetery to the Japanese section, lead by sound artist and the group's production manager Vic McEwan, who explained the concept of In Repose. Bradley Burrows, the sexton of the Belgian Gardens cemetery also spoke about the history of the cemetery and about some of the other sections within the cemetery. The cemetery is divided in to various Christian denominations as well Chinese, Jewish and other groups.

At the Japanese section, guests were invited to view the remaining Japanese graves. Although this section is large, unlike the other sections in the cemetery, it is sparse and with only twenty remaining tombs, telling of the severed Japanese history in Australia due to WWII. The current Japanese community of thirty residents in Townsville are not related to the graves in Belgian Gardens, and many of them did not know about its existence.

At dusk, with sounds of seventeen stringed bass koto by koto virtuoso Satsuki Odamura, dancer Wakako Asano (Sydney Dance Company) dressed in garment prepared by Sydney based fashion designer Akira Isogawa appeared from behind one of the tomb stones with a bell in her hand, and walked to the scattered tomb stones and acknowledged each of them by the sounding of the bells. Odamura for this occasion played Australian composer Mark Isaacs piece, especially composed for koto and for this project, entitled "Chinkon." Chinkon in Japanese means to quieten the spirits.

Asano danced amongst the old Japanese graves with the natural Australian bushland behind the cemetery and the setting sun behind her,. Odamura's koto was complimented by the sounds of frogs, birds and the wind, adding texture to the meaning this project, initiated by the wish of first generation Japanese migrant artists to make connection with the Australian landscape.

After receiving feedback from the invited guests, the artists are now in the process of refining and reworking the performance, and its corresponding video art. Australian sound artist Vic McEwan, Tokyo based video-installation artist Shigeaki Iwai and Sydney based photographer-video artist Mayu Kanamori will be exhibiting a corresponding collaborative video art work, also entitled In Repose at Umbrella Studio in Townsville also during Heritage Week.

History Townsville: In 1896, the first Japanese Consulate in Australia opened in Townsville to service the 4000 Japanese who arrived in Queensland to work in the sugar cane, turtle, trochus, beche de mere and pearling industries. Other Japanese followed, and worked as prostitutes, domestic servants, laundry operators, and interpreters.There was a thriving Japanese community once in Townsville, and the first recorded Japanese migrant in Australia settled in Townsville. Due to the White Australia Policy, demand for the Japanese workers ceased in time, and the Consulate closed in 1908. In the Belgian Gardens Cemetery there are still marked and unmarked Japanese graves from this time. In 1942, Townsville was target of Japanese bombing raids.

History Broome and Thursday Island: Both Broome and Thursday Island have a diverse history, one of which is the Pearling Industry. Since the late 1800's, this industry brought to both Broome and Thursday Island many cultures including Japanese divers. As a result of the harsh conditions of diving many Japanese divers perished. There are approximately 700 Japanese graves at Broome Cemetery and 800 graves at Thursday Island Cemetery, both with a large monument to the Japanese divers that died during this time. Both Broome and Thursday Island were targets of Japanese bombing raids in 1942.