Nikkei Australia’s Dr Tianna Killoran has published an article in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History about Japanese resistance to White Australia.

‘By Means of Unanimous Action’: Japanese Community Resistance to White Australia’

By Dr Tianna Killoran

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History Published online 1 June 2026

https://doi.org/10.1080/03086534.2026.2661690

ABSTRACT: In Australia-Japan histories, Japanese migrants in Australia have often been treated as distinct from the political and diplomatic relationship between these two nations. As Horikawa acutely identifies, Japanese migrants before 1941 enjoyed a special position with minor concessions under the White Australia Policy due to Japan’s growing international status and sustained diplomatic pressure on Australia. Notably, concessions were granted under the 1904 Japanese Passport Agreement and in the exemption of the pearl shell industry, which almost exclusively benefited Japanese workers. Extending upon the concept of minor concessions, this article inverts the emphasis on Japan’s growing international status to examine the impact and interconnection of northern Australia’s Japanese communities on the concessions and exemptions granted under the White Australia Policy. Drawing on records of Japanese and Australian consular correspondence, newspaper articles, and migration records, this article examines how local Japanese communities formed associations that influenced the establishment of formal diplomatic structures. These structures were essential to gaining  – and ensuring the fair application of  – concessions under the White Australia Policy, as well as a means of resistance to discrimination. This research emphasises the agency and influence of individual migrants in gaining diplomatic power within Australia’s history of immigration restriction and discrimination.

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