Friendships

CORPORATE MEMBERS

FRIENDS AND supporters

A　B　C　D　E　F　G　H　I　J　K　L　M　N　O　P　 Q　R　S　T　U　V　W　X　Y　Z

A

Aikido Northern Territory

D

Darwin Kendo Club

Darwin Languages Centre

Darwin Shotokan Karate

F

Fujita Family [Fujita Salvage]

I

INPEX FAMILY BAND

J

Mr. John Lamb

AJANT members had a great opportunity to have a special meeting with Mr John Lamb and his wife Naoko san on Wednesday 6th November 2019.

John Lamb
John Lamb was born in Melbourne in 1949, and grew up in a family of five competitive boys. His academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Architecture, University of Melbourne (1973), Master of Engineering (Architectural Design) Waseda University (1976), and a Graduate Diploma of Education, Canberra University (1998).
He has worked in many areas of the Australian Public Service, been a teacher in both government and private schools and for many years ran a small business. He has also spent more than five years working in Japan, principally as a design manager and liaison officer in Ebara Corporation, Tokyo, but also as an architect, English teacher and translator.

It was only after purported retirement that he became seriously caught up in historical research. He has been the the recipient of a Northern Territory History Grant (2014), an Australia-Japan Foundation Grant (2016), and also a Commendation of the Ambassador of Japan for his distinguished contributions to the deepening of mutual understanding and friendship. His book ‘Silent Pearls’ was short-listed for a Northern Territory History Award, and he has given many presentations and published a variety of articles relating to the history of Japanese in Australia.
Besides such research he is also heavily involved in Masters Athletics and works hard to find a good balance between physical and mental exertion.

Mr. Lamb said:
I came to Darwin both to attend the NT History Colloquium on 2 November and to follow up on aspects of early Japanese immigration to northern Australia – research which I have now been pursuing for more than ten years.
My first book ‘Silent Pearls’ was launched in Darwin in November 2015 with good support from AJANT members and was subsequently short-listed for the Chief Minister’s NT History Book Award. It covers every identifiable death of a Japanese in the NT prior to war in the Pacific (1891~1941) and traces their history and that of the pearling industry in particular.

Mr. Lamb and AJANT members ( Nov 2015)

My second book ‘Okinawans reaching Australia’ overlaps that period, but also moves on to the post-war period when men from Okinawa came to be indentured in preference to mainland Japanese. It delves into how and why this occurred and its varying success in different parts of northern Australia.
The NT Historical Society has also recently published, as a small booklet, a paper I wrote on ‘The Japanese grave of Warruwi’. It arose from a couple of photographs sent to AJANT by a Council employee on South Goulburn Island and sent on to me to see if I could help with identification. I didn’t really expect to be able to, but kept stumbling across fortuitous connections to people and events I had been separately pursuing, and a fascinating story steadily unravelled.
If you read the first two books you will gain detailed insights into the extensive involvement of Japanese in the development of northern Australia. If you read the little booklet you will begin to understand how it has become my destiny to explore it.

‘Silent Pearls’ can be obtained through Abbey’s Bookshop in Sydney or directly from the author for $40 plus postage, or from , Abbey's Bookshop for a higher cost but slightly reduced postage.
‘Okinawans reaching Australia’ is available through Hesperian Press for $40 plus postage.
‘The Japanese grave of Warruwi’ can be obtained through the NT Historical Society, Unit 1, 16 Charlton Court, Woolner. For an on-line purchase form and details of bookshop hours, please email or visit website.