Next year marks the 125th anniversary of the passage of the Immigration Restriction Act and formal establishment of the ‘White Australia policy’. At least one major publication is being prepared to mark this anniversary and review diverse aspects of the stringent restrictions placed on the immigration of ‘coloured’ person to a now multicultural Australia.

Much has previously been written about how, despite the restrictions, thousands of Japanese continued to be admitted, predominantly as cheap labour in the pearling industry. Yet, an unaddressed stranger anomaly was the admission of highly skilled Japanese doctors to work in the major pearling centres independent of any Australian firms or institutions.

Last year, John completed a PhD thesis (which will soon appear as a book published by Routledge) investigating this anomaly - exploring who these doctors were, what they encountered and what, if anything, they achieved. This presentation is an overview of what John discovered, combined with elements of his own history which serendipitously impacted his discoveries - highlighting how we are all inevitably part of the history we explore.

John Lamb is the author of a number of books on aspects of early Japanese immigration to Australia especially relating to the pearling industry, including ‘Silent Pearls’ and ‘Okinawans reaching Australia’, and he has given numerous presentations around Australia and in Japan on such topics. His educational background is broad, having completed a Bachelor of Architecture (MU) in 1973, a Master of Engineering (Waseda) in 1976, and a Grad, Dip. Ed. (UC) in 1998, before becoming involved in historical research almost two decades ago.
The careers he has successfully pursued are equally diverse and he has lived in Japan for more than ten years. In 2024 he completed a PhD (History) at Charles Darwin University, with the support of an Australian Government Training Program Scholarship.