Summary

Postcard featuring two children wearing traditional Japanese clothing and a British naval uniform and holding Japanese and British flags, received by Setsutaro Hasegawa from Okarno, 2 December 1905. It is likely the card was posted in Australia and it is addressed to Setsutaro's 'Japanese Laundry' in Mercer Street Geelong. The postcard symbolises the treaty struck between Great Britain and Japan in 1902, with Britain being the first to recognise Japan as a world power.

Setsutaro migrated to Australia from Japan in 1897 at the age of 26, just four years before the introduction of the Immigration Restriction Act which severely limited migration to Australia from countries in Asia. He established a laundry business in Geelong and by 1911 he had married an Australian-born woman and had three children.

In 1941 Setsutaro was arrested as an enemy alien and sent to Tatura internment camp in northern Victoria. Released early in 1943 due to his age and poor health, unlike most Japanese interns he was not deported to Japan after the War. Setsutaro remained in Geelong for the rest of his life and died in 1952.

Physical Description

Coloured postcard featuring a Japanese child wearing traditional clothing and British child in naval uniform holding their national flags and shaking hands.

Significance

The Hasegawa collection enables the exploration of a number of important historical themes relating to migration, working life, and wartime internment in Victoria. Late nineteenth century and early to mid twentieth century Japanese migration and settlement experiences are little represented in the museum's collections and this collection of clothing, documents, personal items and photographs helps to redress.

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