Studies on the history of Japanese women in Australia, with a view to writing a love story, lead a Japanese Australian artist Mayu Kanamori to uncover a historical rape case in the gold fields of Western Australia during the gold rush, its subsequent court case and the history of karayuki san or early Japanese prostitutes in Australia. Her quest took her from the National Library in the Australian capital to a now forgotten ghost town in Western Australia, and finally to Southern Japan, where young women were taken on board coal ships as stowaways to brothels all over the world. You’ve Mistaken Me For A Butterfly is a film portraying a philosophical journey of a migrant woman, and her attempt to reconcile historical events in the contemporary world.
A Film By Mayu Kanamori
Music Terumi Narushima
Advisor Malcolm Blaylock
Camera Takayuki Odawara, Nick Payne, Mayu Kanamori
Editing Consultancy / Colour Darrin Baker
Voice Recording / Engineering Philip Muscatello
Performance / Butterfly Trick Ryuichi Fujimura
Artwork Shigemi Nakamura-Simms
Translation & Subtitling Junko Hirabayashi
Planning Yasushi Nagata Osaka University
Website Chie Muraoka https://www.aboutokin.com
Co-Producers Mayu Kanamori and Malcolm Blaylock
Historical Photographs:
Commodore Matthew Perry’s Visit 1854, Wikimedia Commons
Japanese Acrobats in Australia / Karayuki / Women in Broome, Papers of D.C.S. Sissons, Australia, National Library of Australia (NLA)
Acrobatic Performers Ogawa Kazumasa / Women Dancers and Shamisen Player / Tea Ceremony, Nagasaki University Library Archives
Butterfly Trick Yoro Takigoro Poster / Butterfly Trick Yanagawa Taneshirabe no den, Masaru Kawai Archives
Auditorium Princess Theatre Barrie, Andrew Weedon, Henry & Talma Studios 1896, State Library of Victoria
Steamers Melbourne’s port, C1910s Rick Ray/Shutterstock.com
Princess’ Theatre Melbourne, Samuel Calvert, The Illustrated Melbourne 1865, State Library of Victoria
Japanese Village Advertisement, Pemberton W. Willard, The Lorgnette 1886
At the Sydney Japanese Village, Phil May 1886 The Bulletin
Japanese sugar cane workers / Japanese divers on lugger Thursday Island, Queensland C1896, John Oxley Library State Library of Queensland
WA Cobb and Co coach Mt Malcolm, C1890 National Gallery of Australia
Miners, North Star Mine, Mt Malcolm Western Australia 1896, Museums Victoria
Mt Malcolm Townsites & Map, Shire of Leonora Economics & Heritage Services
Trial of Frank Gardiner, the bushranger at the Supreme Court Sydney, Samuel Calvert 1864, State Library of Victoria
Karayuki, Courtesy Yoko Hayashi, Institute for Study of Humanities and Social Sciences, Doshisha University
Karayuki Portraits, Kuchinotsu Museum of History & Folklore
Japanese Passport 1866, Diplomatic Archives, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Supreme Court case file (no 2883), Depositions/Witness Statements 1898, State Records Office of Western Australia
Service & Casualty Form A112; MP1103/1 National Archives of Australia
Map, Tatura Internment Camp, Rushworth 1942-1946, Tatura Museum
Under license from Shutterstock.com:
Butterfly – lexaarts
Clouds – Archao
Seagulls -New Africa
Crescent moon – muratart
Butterflies- micromotion
Washing- BlackBoxGuild
Moths – gonin
Outback -Jana Schoenknecht
Other Licenses:
2573 Clouds -Pixabay/Pexels
Cloudy-sky-118
Jessica Ann Mccamey/Mixkit
Locations & Support:
National Library of Australia
Gwalia Ghost Town & Museum
The Old Court House Law Museum
Kuchinotsu History, Folklore and Marine Museum
Kuchinotsu Museum of History and Folklore
Risho-in Taishi-do
State Records Office of Western Australia
Shire of Leonora
Special Thanks:
Arisa Yura
Carol Hayes
Clarissa Bell
David Hinde
Jacqueline Lo
Jenevieve Chang
Keiko Tamura
Kraig Grady
Laura Dales
Lisa Iley
Liz Paddison
Martin Edmond
Masako Fukui
Mayumi Shinozaki
Melissa Miles
Rina Kikuchi
Susan Dowell
Tessa Morris-Suzuki
Vera Mackie
Yuji Sone
Yuriko Nagata