Summary

Single sheet passport issued to Setsutaro Hasegawa in Japan in 1897. Setsutaro migrated to Australia in 1897 at the age of 29. This was just four years before the introduction of the Immigration Restriction Act which virtually banned immigration to Australia from Asia.

Setsutaro worked as a houseboy in Melbourne before establishing a laundry business in Geelong. By 1910 he had married an Australian-born woman and had several children. In 1941 Setsutaro was interned at Tatura as an enemy alien, when he was over 70 years old. He was released at the end of World War II, and unlike most Japanese interns he was not deported. Setsutaro returned to Geelong where he remained for the rest of his life.

Physical Description

Single sheet of thick paper with two folds. One side has Japanese characters in black ink and four red stamps with assorted characters - one featuring a dragon border. The other side features two red stamps in Japanese and one line of Japanese characters in black ink. There are also two pink stamps form the Japanese Consulate Melbourne, dated 22/3/97. There are two translations, one in English, the other in French. The passport was contained in a brown silk pouch with fringe at opening and the imprint of figure lying on his stomach looking at a basket.

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