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THE JAPANESE CLUB
by Kevin

A unified and determined pearling union

In the early 1900's, Broome was a melting pot of both European and Oriental nationalities. All these men sought to make their fortunes in the pearling industry, but as a group the unified, insular Japanese rose above the rest.
A manifestation of this accomplishment, and perhaps an intricate part of it's realisation, was the existence of the Japanese club.
The Japanese club was located in a long, corrugated tin building behind the present site of the Palm Court Arcade. It had a large function area with tables and chairs. In the back was an office and sleeping room for the Club Secretary.
The Club was an ideal venue for parties, and although membership was restricted to Japanese, the guest lists for social get togethers often included those of many ethnic origins. The Club's benevolent attitude toward inter-racial harmony were eclipsed however when it came to the world of business.
Primarily, the Japanese Club served as a meeting place where it's members could gather and discuss matters of mutual interest. This inevitably meant the securing of the highest possible financial return for services rendered during the long months at sea.
As the pearling industry grew the Japanese by skill, hard work and organisation methodically established themselves as divers and tenders within the fleets. Once established in these key positions, they were then able to barter with the European pearling masters who found themselves confronted by a de facto labour union.
In those days it was technically illegal for an Asian to own a direct or even indirect interest in a pearling operation. Yet for the pearling masters it became increasingly difficult to avoid the under the counter deals with members of the Japanese Club. The practice known as dummying became entrenched in the industry.
In time the strategies hatched at the Japanese Club saw their members come away with handsome rewards and gradually the practice of dummying became so wide spread that in some pearling operations that it was unclear just who was working for whom.
The financial edge enjoyed by the Japanese allowed them a special place in the Broome community. Whilst other Asian nationalities were given paltry wages and restricted to the foreshore, the Japanese were living it up in the bars, the brothels and the gambling houses.
As the Japanese influence in the pearling industry grew, so too did the arrivals of Japanese prostitutes, carpenters and merchants.
The Japanese community had the funds to establish their own hospital, build their own tennis courts and of course maintain the Japanese Club.

The Australian Government appointed a local pearling master, a Mr. Sam Male to the post of Japanese Counsel. He with the Japanese Club secretary sorted out the inevitable paperwork puzzles arising from the constant flow of people and products between Broome and Japan.
The Japanese Club prospered until the late 1930's when international tensions began to put a strain on Japanese/Australian relations.
In 1940, the Japanese Club's last secretary, a Mr. Toshio Fukuda played host to a visiting Japanese Army Colonel who urged his countrymen to remain 'calm' in the face of growing evidence that Japan was 'edging closer to all out war.'
The Japanese community remained calm, but the attack on Pearl harbour and the declarations of war that followed effectively put an end to the Japanese Club and it's influence in the Broome community.
The Broome police arrested the Japanese men and herded them to the prison where they waited for the transport ship 'Kulinda.' When the ship arrived the wives and children of the Japanese merchants were also taken into custody.
The Japanese were marched onto the 'Kulinda' under heavy guard. The women and children were given rooms, but the men were jammed into the hold and a net was thrown over the hatch. At the jetty, the rest of the Broome population looked on in silence and sadly waved goodbye as the ship cast off.
This touching scene was to be in sharp contrast to the arrival of the 'Kulinda' at Fremantle. There an enraged crowd of Australians showered the Japanese with abuse as they disembarked and prepared to board trains bound for the internment camps in the eastern states. Many over-wrought patriots loudly suggested that someone should 'kill the bastards.'
Life in the internment camps was fairly easy for the majority of Japanese, but many divers and tenders found themselves unjustly shifted to harsher POW camps during the war.
It seemed that their work on the luggers was confused with the visits of Japanese sampans that had called into Broome to take on water in the late 1930's. In retrospect, these sampans were believed to have carried spies.
After the war, the divers, merchants and their families were repatriated directly back to Japan. Those that eventually returned to Broome found their property missing and the pearling industry in a downward spiral from which it would never recover.
The Japanese Club never reopened. Years later when the building it housed was being demolished a thoughtful individual saved the canopy that graced it's entrance. Today that structure stands in front of a recreation room used for the Japanese divers of Pearls Pty. Ltd

Story reproduced with permission from Kevin