Students of Taisei Girls High School in Japan c.1944. Image: Harue Goto.
Join Dr Tets Kimura as he presents a lecture on his 2023 National Library Fellowship research into how grief was experienced during the Asia-Pacific War in two different nations, Australia and Japan, and how it is identifiable in art and fashion.
Entry is free to this event but bookings are essential.
The talk will be available to view live online via the Library’s Facebook and YouTube pages. You do not need to book a ticket to watch the event online.
Dr Tets Kimura is a 2023 National Library of Australia Fellow in Japan Studies, supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust.
About Dr Tets Kimura’s Fellowship research
At the conclusion of his two residencies at the National Library of Australia through a 2021 Asia Study Grant and a 2023 National Library Fellowship, both supported by the Harold S. Williams Trust, Dr Tets Kimura delivers a presentation on how grief was experienced during the Asia-Pacific War in two different nations, Australia and Japan, by two different kinds of ordinary ‘Japanese’ people.
In Australia, civilians with a Japanese background were classified as enemy aliens, even though Australia was their home. Here, they were interned in enemy camps, they cried to be treated fairly, and their emotions have been preserved in art and craft works that were made during their internment.
Civilians in Japan also suffered in many wars; their experiences with censorship, famine, forced labour, and firebombing by the Allies targeting Japanese homes have been well-studied. But the war time was also an era when fashion was controlled by the authority, where people were unable to express themselves due to the introduction of the state sartorial code of kokuminfuku (national attire) and mompe working pants.
Dr Kimura’s presentation showcases how grief in the war is identifiable in art and fashion, aiming to generate further discussions on how ordinary people experienced the war, and how to read the war from the perspectives of art/cultural history and fashion studies.
About Dr Tets Kimura
Dr Tets Kimura holds academic status in the creative arts at Flinders University. He is due to publish the monograph Fashion, Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy: A Case Study of Japanese Fashion in Australia (Bloomsbury, forthcoming). As a journalist, he reported the Iraq War from Baghdad in 2004.
About National Library of Australia Fellowships
The National Library of Australia Fellowships program offers researchers an opportunity to undertake a 12-week residency at the Library.
This program is supported by generous donors and bequests.
The details
What: Grief in World War II expressed in art and fashion with Dr Tets Kimura
When: Thursday 13 June 2024 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm
Where: National Library of Australia
Cost: Free. Tickets available from National Library of Australia.
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