Japanese Pearl Divers

By Shan
Japanese Pearl Divers Research
1. When did these people first arrive in Australia?

From the 1870s up till World War 2 more than a hundred Japanese people
had voyaged to Australia for better living conditions. Both the sugarcane
industry in the north-eastern Australia and the pearling industry in the
north-western Australia had attracted many Japanese labourers.
Discover Nikkei. (2019). Japanese in Australia: From Meiji to World War II. [online] Available
at: http://www.discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2014/2/25/japanese-in-australia/ [Accessed 8
Aug. 2019].
2. By what means did they get here and how long did it take?
During the 1800s the most common form of transport on water was by
boat and during that time wooden ships would generally travel at an
average speed of 12 knots which converted to kilometres per hour would
be 22 kilometres per hour. The distance from Japan to Western Australia
is around 7300 kilometres. The formula to figure out travel time is to
divide the distance by the speed (in hours) at which you’re travelling. So,
if you divide 7300 by 22 your answer would be 331 hours. If converted to
days it would be 13 days. So, it means that the Japanese took about 2
weeks to get from Japan to Western Australia.
South African History Online. (2019). Transport on water. [online] Available at:
https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/transport-water [Accessed 8 Aug. 2019].
Google Maps. (2019). Google Maps. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com/maps

[Accessed 8 Aug. 2019].
Softschools.com. (2019). Distance Speed Time Formula. [online] Available at:

http://www.softschools.com/formulas/physics/distance_speed_time_formula/75/ [Accessed 8
Aug. 2019].
Reference. (2019). How Fast Did Ships Travel in the 1700s?. [online] Available at:
https://www.reference.com/history/fast-did-ships-travel-1700s-15c234e67afb873d [Accessed
8 Aug. 2019].
3. Who brought them over and for what purpose?

No one really brought the Japanese over because they came on their own in search for
better living conditions. Many Japanese were recruited as pearlers for pearling
industries in three different locations which were Broome, Thursday Island and
Darwin.
prezi.com. (2019). JAPANESE IMMIGRATION TO AUSTRALIA.. [online] Available at:
https://prezi.com/bm11nau9ezfd/japanese-immigration-to-australia/ [Accessed 8 Aug. 2019].
4. What were their living conditions like?

The living conditions for the Japanese during the 1880s weren’t too great because
many Australians hated them for their different looks, culture, religion and because
they were taking up a lot of low paying jobs. This is why many Australians were
racist to them which resulted in their lives being challenging in Australia.
prezi.com. (2019). Early Experiences of Japanese In Australia Prior. [online] Available at:
https://prezi.com/i9hmhpp4clqo/early-experiences-of-japanese-in-australia-prior/ [Accessed 8
Aug. 2019].
By Shan
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5. What were their working conditions like?
The Japanese pearlers would spend up to 4 months at sea doing more than 50 dives in
search for pearls. There was also high risk of death due to sharks, decompression
sickness and cyclones. The weather was not always too great and sometimes a storm
would occur making it harder for the pearlers. One time a cyclone ravaged the coast
of Western Australia and decimated the pearl fleets. It killed 16 pearlers and
destroyed the pearls on board which worth over $5000.
Trove. (2019). JAPANESE PEARLERS - Trove List. [online] Available at:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=95831 [Accessed 8 Aug. 2019].
Aug. 2019].
6. How did the Australian people see them?

When the Japanese came to Australia during the 1880s many Australian people
resented them because they looked different and because of their different culture and
religion. Many other Australian people also resented them because the Japanese did
not care about harsh working conditions and low paying jobs, they thought by this
they would lower the standards of white Australians. Because of all this the Japanese
were subject to a lot of racism and resentment.
Aug. 2019].
7. What was their wage like?

Japanese pearlers were indentured workers which means they were forced to work for
a certain amount of time to repay their debts to the white Australians. They had to
work long hours and through many storms and cyclones but were treated as slaves.
They weren’t payed a lot but they kept going because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be
able to survive.
Aug. 2019].
8. What was their daily routine?

The Japanese pearlers did not really have much of a routine because they would spend
4 months at sea completing up to 50 dives going more than 30 metres deep in water to
get pearls.
Trove. (2019). JAPANESE PEARLERS - Trove List. [online] Available at:
https://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=95831 [Accessed 8 Aug. 2019].
9. How were they treated by the British people?

The Japanese pearlers weren’t treated any greater than the aboriginals, they were
subject to racism because of their skin and culture. Many of them were treated as
slaves because they were indentured workers which meant they had debts to pay.
Aug. 2019].
10. How were they viewed by the Aboriginal people?

By Shan
Many Aboriginal people did not like the Japanese because before the Japanese
pearlers came the Aboriginals were the ones who used to go pearl diving for the
British for money. But Aboriginal people did not have any gear so they had limits to
how deep they could dive. But when the Japanese came with their tank suits the
British replaced the Aboriginals with the Japanese which made a lot of the
Aboriginals jobless.
En.wikipedia.org. (2019). Pearling in Western Australia. [online] Available at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pearling_in_Western_Australia [Accessed 8 Aug. 2019].

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By Shan

Japanese Pearl Divers Research

1. When did these people first arrive in Australia?

Google Maps. (2019). Google Maps. [online] Available at: https://www.google.com/maps

Softschools.com. (2019). Distance Speed Time Formula. [online] Available at:

3. Who brought them over and for what purpose?

4. What were their living conditions like?

6. How did the Australian people see them?

7. What was their wage like?

8. What was their daily routine?

9. How were they treated by the British people?

10. How were they viewed by the Aboriginal people?

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