The Consul-General of Japan in Sydney's Newsletter - Past Issues
No. 7 New Caledonia and Japan:
From historical ties to tourism and exchanges - January 24, 2020
This Consulate provides consular services to New Caledonia. From 5 to 7 January, coinciding with the New Year Get-together of the New Caledonia Japanese Society, I paid my first official visit to the island and met with members of the Japanese community and New Caledonian officials. As I give an overview of my visit, let us reflect upon historical ties between New Caledonia and Japan, as well as the increasing exchange, including tourism, between New Caledonia and Japan.
New Caledonia Japanese Society’s New Year Get-together, 5 January
After a 3-hour flight from Sydney, I arrived in New Caledonia at Noumea International Airport and went straight to the New Year Get-together hosted by the Japanese Society (Association Japonaise en Nouvelle-Calédonie). There are approximately 260 Japanese expatriates living in New Caledonia and some 60 people attended the get-together, including members of the New Caledonia Japan Friendship Association (Amicale Japonaise de Nouvelle-Calédonie) whose members are mainly local people with Japanese heritage. In addition to the annual New Year Get-together organized by the Japanese Society, the New Caledonia Japan Friendship Association also holds a Tanabata event in July, and members of both groups attend the events. The New Year Get-together was attended by people of all ages, from children to senior citizens, and the event was very Japanese with mochi-tsuki (pounding sticky rice with a large mortar and pestle to create mochi rice cakes) and suika-wari (a game in which you try to find and break open a watermelon with a stick while blindfolded).
Laying flowers at the Japanese cemetery.
From left: 3rd – Mrs Rosemary Take (President of New Caledonia Japan Friendship Association), 4th – Consul-General Kiya, 5th – Mrs Marie-José Michel (Honorary Consul of Japan in New Caledonia) and 7th Mr TAKAHASHI Masahiko (President of Japanese Society)
The next day (6 January), I laid flowers at the Japanese cemetery together with the Honorary Consul of Japan in New Caledonia, Mrs Marie-José Michel, the President of the Japanese Society, Mr Takahashi Masahiko, and the President of the New Caledonia Japan Friendship Association, Mrs Rosemary Take and others.
New Caledonia was declared a French colony in 1853. In 1892, Japanese men immigrated as contract labourers to work in the nickel mines. From that time up until 1919, some 5,600 people migrated from Japan to New Caledonia. Many chose to stay, and throughout the islands of New Caledonia, they came to work in agriculture and business.
However, in 1941 with the start of war in the Pacific during World War II, Free France, working with the Allied Forces, arrested all Japanese (1st generation Nikkei) as enemy aliens. Around 1,100 such Japanese were sent to internment camps in Australia. At the end of the war in 1946, most of these people were sent back to Japan. The property and assets of Japanese couples were seized, and the wives of Japanese men and their children left behind in New Caledonia were condemned to live apart under difficult circumstances.
Today out of New Caledonia’s total population of 270,000, some 10,000 people are said to have Japanese ancestry, born of this history.
At the Japanese cemetery, there is also a memorial with the names of the 97 crew members who went down with the I-17 submarine, which was sunk in August 1943. The memorial was erected after the war by the family of the victims. In recent years, the New Caledonia Japan Friendship Association has added a plaque and tombstone.
In 2012, a commemorative event was held on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of Japanese immigration, and a cenotaph was erected in their memory in Thio, the location of a major nickel mine.
I am truly thankful for the efforts of Japanese expatriates and New Caledonians of Japanese descent who care for the Japanese cemetery – so far from Japan – with such respect.
Visiting the New Caledonia Museum of World War II with Japan’s Honorary Consul Michel
At the New Caledonia Museum of World War II, records are displayed relating to the arrest and internment of Japanese as well as asset seizure. One of the people whose records are on the database is a Mr Takamoune, the grandfather of Honorary Consul Michel, who kindly showed me around the museum.
The history of Japanese immigrants in New Caledonia has been told in several books [see list at end of newsletter]. KOBAYASHI Tadao wrote in detail about Japanese contract labourers in his 1977 book, which was published in French in 1992. In recent years, Prof. TSUDA Mutsumi of Kwansei Gakuin University has published on her research, including in 2009, a book on the families torn apart by WWII; this also appeared in French in 2012. In addition, former vice president of the Okinawan newspaper ‘Ryukyu Shimpo’, MIKI Takeshi, published on this topic and its connection with Okinawa in 2018. This work was used by Cinema Okinawa as the basis of a documentary film (まぶいぐみ～ニューカレドニア引き裂かれた移民史～ - Mabui-gumi: Nyū Karedonia hikisakareta iminshi), which won the “recording cultural history” division in the 2018 Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs Film Prize.
Sunset at the beach in Noumea
After the war, relations between Japan and New Caledonia changed greatly. In 1966, MORIMURA Katsura published a travel journal about New Caledonia (天国にいちばん近い島 – Tengoku ni ichiban chikai shima). In 1984, this was made into a movie of the same title (The Island Closest to Heaven) starring HARADA Tomoyo. The movie lead to increased tourism from Japan and a resort hotel was built on Ouvea Island where the movie was set. Nowadays, there are regular direct flights between Noumea and Narita as well as Kansai Airports by Aircalin (an 8-hour flight with a 2-hour time difference), and each year, approximately 20,000 people fly from Japan to New Caledonia. French, Australians and Japanese are the three largest groups of visitors to New Caledonia.
There are various kinds of exchange taking place. For example, the New Caledonia Marathon was established in 1983 with cooperation from a group in Tachikawa City, Tokyo. Every year, many Japanese participate in the race. KAWAUCHI Yuuki is famous in Japan as a public servant-turned-runner, and he entered and won the race in 2008. He also met his wife-to-be, a fellow marathon runner, on that occasion, and last year (2019) they were invited to compete as husband and wife.
Nickel mining still plays an important role – New Caledonia is a major source of nickel ore for Japan, and this nickel is used in the production of stainless steel and electronic devices. The Japanese cement company TOKUYAMA is developing its business in New Caledonia, and in many places around the city of Noumea, I saw concrete blocks used in traffic control emblazoned with the Noumea City and TOKUYAMA logos.
Meeting with Finance Minister Lecourieux of New Caledonia
On 6 January, I had a meeting with the Minister for Finance Yoann Lecourieux. In 2016, New Caledonia became a formal member of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), and in 2018, then President of New Caledonia Philippe Germain participated for the first time in a PALM summit, the 8th Pacific Islands Leaders Meeting. I had fruitful talks with Minister Lecourieux on how to strengthen the relationship between New Caledonia and Japan, discussing a range of topics from historical ties to tourism, sports exchange and business development.
With the Secretary-General of the French High Commission in Noumea Laurent Cabrera
Also on 6 January, I met and exchanged views with the Secretary-General of the French High Commission in Noumea, Mr Laurent Cabrera. New Caledonia is a French overseas territory accorded special status and governance rights. Under the terms of the 1998 Noumea Accord, New Caledonia is undergoing a political process among the French Government, pro-independence parties and anti-independence parties. In November 2018, a referendum on independence was held: 43.6% voted for and 56.4% against independence, and New Caledonia remained part of France. In September 2020, a second referendum is scheduled, and I was briefed on procedures and issues relating to the referendum.
I also paid a visit on the New Caledonia Armed Forces Deputy Commander and received a briefing on French security policy in the Indo-Pacific and current issues.
Exchanging views with Japanese Society committee members
3rd from left, Mr TAKAHASHI Masahiko, President
In addition to the New Year Get-together, Japanese Society committee members kindly made time to meet with me again so that I could hear their opinions and any requests. The Japanese Government has no office in New Caledonia, and it is in this environment that the Society runs a Japanese language school and helps support the activities of the Honorary Consul of Japan in New Calendonia, who provides assistance to Japanese nationals. In parallel with my official visit, in the morning of 6 January, a representative of the Sydney Consulate’s consular affairs section provided consular services such as passport renewal and issuing various documents. Going forward, the Consulate will do its best to accommodate the opinions and needs of Japanese in New Caledonia.
Central Noumea
My trip to New Caledonia made me realize that relations between New Caledonia and Japan are not only based on our deep historical ties and the many people with Japanese heritage. Today, bilateral ties are also developing through tourism and sports exchange, as well as in business and in the political arena through PALM for example. Against this backdrop, it will be necessary to observe and respond to future trends as the political process continues in New Caledonia.
This Consulate will make efforts by advancing cooperation and dialogue with the New Caledonian Government and with a wide range of local stakeholders, as well as by promoting tourism and exchange, to further deepen ties between New Caledonia and Japan.
List of books
KOBAYASHI Tadao
ニューカレドニア島の日本人－契約移民の歴史 (Nyū Karedoniatō no Nihonjin: keiyaku imin no rekishi), 1977
Les Japonais en Nouvelle-Calédonie: Histoire des Emigrés sous Contrat, 1992
TSUDA Mutsumi
マブイの往来：ニューカレドニア－日本 引き裂かれた家族と戦争の記憶 (Mabui no ōrai: Nyū Karedonia - Nihon hikisakareta kazoku to sensō no kioku), 2009
Ames errantes: Le destin brisé des émigrants d'Okinawa en Nouvelle-Calédonie, 2012
MIKI Takeshi
空白の移民史―ニューカレドニアと沖縄 (Kūhaku no iminshi : Nyū Karedonia to Okinawa), 2018
New Caledonia Japanese Society
http://ncjapon.blog.fc2.com/
New Caledonia Japan Friendship Association – President Rosemary Take’s Imperial Decoration Conferral Ceremony
http://ncjapon.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-80.html
New Caledonia Second World War Museum
https://www.noumea.nc/musee-de-la-seconde-guerre-mondiale
Documentary film “Mabui-gumi -History of emigrants torn apart in New Caledonia”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1wSaPnCSwE&feature=emb_logo
Prof. Tsuda Mutsumi of Kwansei Gakuin Univ. website
http://www.mutsumitsuda.com/top/
New Caledonia Tourism
https://www.newcaledonia.travel/au/
Prime Minister Abe Receives a Courtesy Call from the President of the Government of New Caledonia
https://www.mofa.go.jp/erp/we/fr/page1e_000227.html
France in the Indo-Pacific (French Foreign and Defense Ministries)
https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en/country-files/asia-and-oceania/the-indo-pacific-region-a-priority-for-france/
https://www.defense.gouv.fr/layout/set/print/content/download/532754/9176250/version/3/file/France+and+Security+in+the+Indo-Pacific+-+2019.pdf