Title: Hal Porter in Occupied Japan

Submitted by: Chris Coney, The Australian National University

The Australian writer Hal Porter was a teacher of the children of BCOF personnel in Kure during the Occupation of Japan after World War II. Like many others, he grabbed the chance to work as a part of the Occupation as a way to escape what he felt was the boredom and narrowness of Australian life. But more importantly, Porter had a long standing interest in things Japanese that he inherited from his grandfather. In fact, as a child and youth he developed an infatuation with Japan based on reading his grandfather's books, on seeing the beautiful arts and crafts of Japan many of which were displayed in Melbourne at that time, and on other exotic representations such as those in the opera Madame Butterfly. This paper discusses the imaginary Japanese world that Porter built up in his mind whilst living in Australia, and how this world was transformed by living and working in Japan itself.

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Carol Burnett
Asialink
The University of Melbourne
Parkville 3052
Victoria AUSTRALIA

Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899
Fax : 61 - 3 - 9347 1768

Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au