Unexpected Encounters Neglected Histories Behind the Australia-Japan Relationship

In telling the personal stories of Australians in Japan and Japanese in Australia, this book explores issues of race, identity, and ambition in times of war and peace. The essays collected here illuminate a variety of fascinating lives and individual achievements, from trade to literature and the arts, the media, and the justice system. For over 150 years, people have been shaped by and contributed to the breadth, strength, and diversity of the Australia-Japan relationship. As the editors and their contributors contend, a transnational relationship is ultimately constituted by hundreds of untold, seesawing, and yet fruitful, personal encounters that overcome prejudice, and blur the boundaries set by official and unofficial racial mores.