Hirokazu Matsui reviews Kate Darian-Smith and David Lowe’s (eds.), The Australian Embassy in Tokyo and Australia–Japan Relations (ANU Press, 2023)
In 2017, as a postgraduate student in Japan, I took a course run by David Carter, who then held the visiting professorship at the Center for Pacific and American Studies (CPAS) at the University of Tokyo. In this course, I interviewed locally engaged staff (LES) of the Australian Embassy in Tokyo and examined oral histories of former LES. I was also invited to a party at the Embassy. It’s been a long time since I entered the Embassy, but I still remember its stringent security and a large mural depicting the Melbourne Cup. Then, in March 2023, The Australian Embassy in Tokyo and Australia–Japan Relations was published. Its publication came at a timely juncture, for Canberra and Tokyo have recently deepened their relationship in the face of growing uncertainty in the Indo-Pacific region. The Australian–Japanese update of the Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation is a clear manifestation of that.[1]
Consisting of 12 chapters, this volume examines the history of the Australian Embassy in Tokyo from various perspectives. Authors’ backgrounds can be divided into two categories. The first is former diplomats who were involved in Australia-Japan relations, including former Australian Ambassadors. The second is academics who research Australia’s foreign relations. This division in the authors’ backgrounds may partly explain the variations in the number of references in the volume’s chapters. Chapters written by the former diplomats tend to have fewer references than those written by the academics. That said, one distinctive feature of this volume is that the academics can also be practitioners of diplomacy, as articulated by a chapter which in part discusses the CPAS visiting professorship. Therefore, the boundary between the first and second categories is often blurred in this volume, successfully bringing together the former practitioners’ personal insights and the academics’ expertise.
Several themes stand out in this volume. Firstly, Lee and Lowe’s ‘Ambassadors and Key Issues’, Walton’s ‘Early Australia-Japan Postwar Relations’, Lee’s ‘Sir John Crawford and Japan, 1953-77’, and Richard Broinowski’s ‘Japan as Number One’ collectively deal with developments of Australia-Japan relations from 1952 to 2020 in traditional spheres such as politics and economy. These chapters explain issues that shaped and affected Australia–Japan relations and how Australian policymakers responded to these issues. Additionally, as explained by Walton and Lee, Australia’s dealings with Japan were beset by intense rivalry between the Department of External Affairs (now renamed Foreign Affairs) and the Department of Trade. A story of this rivalry demonstrates that diplomacy requires a solid domestic foundation. Broinowski offers an intriguing account of Canberra’s attempt to create this foundation. (243)
This volume also pays close attention to the history of the Embassy building itself and people working in its compound. Alison Broinowski and Rachel Miller’s ‘Creation, Destruction and Re-creation’ and Goad’s ‘Building Diplomacy’ examine the Embassy building and the locale on which it is built, with the latter offering a comparative assessment of Australia’s overseas posts and analysing how the Embassy in Tokyo fits into this context. These two chapters favourably comment on the design of the current Embassy building, but simultaneously point to complaints from those who work in it. Darian-Smith and Lowe’s ‘Working at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo’ examines the experiences of these employees by using LES’s oral history interviews. It reveals LES’s crucial role and how they view the Embassy as a workplace. These three chapters successfully elevate the importance of areas and actors that have not been given enough attention in the literature of diplomatic history.
Another prominent theme of this volume is cultural relations between Australia and Japan. Darian-Smith’s ‘Australian–Japanese Cultural Connections’ and Carter’s ‘Scholars–Future Interpreters of Australia’ give an outline of this aspect of the bilateral relationship, illuminating the Embassy’s involvement in the promotion of cultural connections between the two countries. These chapters highlight the depth and width of the cultural connections, characterizing them as an asset for broader Australia-Japan relations. As noted by Darian-Smith, ‘the cultural sector as a whole has clearly been a substantial factor in strengthening the bilateral relationship between Australia and Japan for almost five decades’ (201). Carter’s account of CPAS’s visiting professorship also offers a revealing insight into the fact that the Australia–Japan Foundation’s policy was fluid and that even survival of the post was not guaranteed (222-223). This account makes me feel grateful for the good fortune that this post still exists.
Lastly, this volume includes personal testimonies of former Australian Ambassadors to Japan. In his ‘The Australian Embassy in Tokyo and the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami of March 2011’, McLean reflects on the Embassy’s responses to the Great East Japan Earthquake. His reflection elegantly captures the rapidly changing situation after the earthquake, especially regarding the safety margin for avoiding radioactive contamination due to the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident. He also recounts the warm personal relationships that came out of the Embassy’s responses. It seems significant that his chapter, indicating ‘the solidarity of, and trust in, the Australia–Japan relationship’ (38), is placed at the start of this volume. This ordering gives readers a good point of reference for understanding how far Australia-Japan relations have come since the Embassy opened in 1952. Bruce Miller’s ‘The Tokyo Embassy, Past, Present and Future’ provides a more general account of his service as an Australian diplomat. Beginning with his personal background, he reflects on recent developments in Australia–Japan relations and then reveals a cautiously optimistic view of the bilateral relationship’s future. As his reflection well relates to various themes covered in previous chapters, it is ideally suited to conclude this volume.
The contributors to this volume generally stress the Embassy’s importance in the development of post-1952 Australia-Japan relations. For instance, Lee and Lowe underline the Embassy’s ‘crucial role in the transition of the Australian–Japan relationship from enmity to interdependence’ (43). Their claim may be valid. However, it could and should have been supported more effectively and convincingly. The volume contains a number of examples of the Embassy’s advice being overturned or ignored by the Australian government. For example, Australian ambassador Alan Watt was excluded from negotiations on the 1957 Commerce Agreement (52). In addition, Prime Minister (1996–2007) John Howard ignored then Ambassador John McCarthy’s advice and unsuccessfully raised the idea of a Free Trade Agreement with his Japanese counterpart Junichiro Koizumi (71).
There are a number of omissions in the story of the Embassy. For example, while Lee and Lowe suggest that despite initial differences, Japan soon moved to a cooperative stance on the 1999-2004 crisis in East Timor, they do not explain how this change happened. If they had shown how the Embassy lobbied on this subject, its crucial role could have been articulated more convincingly (69-70). Although historical documents may not have been released yet, this can be seen as a missed opportunity.
A second omission in this volume is the lack of reference to Japanese archives. I know that there is an issue of Japanese language, but I still feel that we cannot fully assess the success or failure of the Australian Embassy in Tokyo without seeing how the Japanese (government, business, and so on) viewed the Embassy.
Finally, although Darian-Smith’s ‘Australian–Japanese Cultural Connections’ and Carter’s ‘Scholars: Future Interpreters of Australia’ are very informative, they sometimes lack a critical gaze on the Embassy, the Australia–Japan Foundation, and other agencies. For instance, Darian-Smith stresses tourism’s importance in ‘opening up mutual appreciation of the culture and landscapes of the two nations’ (193). Nevertheless, she does not analyse how and why tourism enhances the ‘mutual appreciation’. Her descriptions almost solely focus on historical statistics relating to tourists visiting each country, leaving the impression that an increasing number of tourists can be simply equated with an increase in mutual understanding. Carter also mentions the CPAS visiting professorship as giving Australian Studies in Japan ‘a significant role to play […] in influencing a large body of future professionals in the Japanese system’ (226). I hope his claim is true. My experience at the University of Tokyo, however, suggests that the extent of influence of such visiting professorships is limited. For example, classes taught by the visiting professor tend to be quite small. The visiting professor teaches 100-120 students per semester at most, whereas roughly 3000 students enter the university’s Bachelor’s program each year.
These omissions are small quibbles and do not damage this volume’s scholarly value. The book facilitates holistic understanding of wide-ranging aspects of Australia-Japan relations after 1952. It also raises many thought-provoking points including role of the United States, the shared ally of Australia and Japan. These points can inspire future research on this important relationship. Lastly, one of the greatest contributions of the volume is production of new oral history interviews which are listed in the bibliography (261). The volume can be recommended for those who are interested in diverse topics ranging from Australia–Japan relations and Australian foreign policy to oral history and architectural design. I am glad to see this book is published as an Open Access, which will certainly increase its availability and visibility.
[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, ‘Japan-Australia Leaders’ Meeting’, 22 October 2022, https://www.mofa.go.jp/a_o/ocn/au/page1e_000510.html [Accessed on 16 March 2024].
