Field trip 2 started on an auspicious note, with a Bodhi leaf design in Anna’s coffee cup at the Darwin airport. Anna, Sue and Fil then headed to the Cambodian Khemara Uttararangsi Temple, near Humpty Doo.
Field trip 1 in Far North Queensland has revealed valuable insights on the lives of Buddhists in the early days.
In August 2024, the research team and the videography team hit the road again to document Buddhism in Darwin and Broome.
Field trip 2 started on an auspicious note, with a Bodhi leaf design in Anna’s coffee cup at the Darwin airport. Anna, Sue and Fil then headed to the Cambodian Khemara Uttararangsi Temple, near Humpty Doo.
The Khemara Uttararangsi Temple is set in a serene mango orchard and includes a Bodhi tree descended from the one in Bodhgaya, India. They arrived in time for the community’s Monday practice of taking the Five Precepts, followed by a delicious Cambodian lunch.
Sue and Anna interviewed sisters Muy Keav Ma and Muy Houng Ma, who shared their family’s migration story and how they founded the Temple. Fil captured beautiful shots of the Bodhi tree and Buddhist statues and the first day ended with filming a stunning sunset at Darwin Sailing Club.
Sue, Anna and Fil spent the next day at the Northern Territory Chinese Museum and Temple, where they interviewed Chung Wah Society Past-President Austin Chin, museum caretaker Dennis Low, and the NT Museum Director Neville Jones. Fil also filmed the Temple and Museum artefacts and their Bodhi tree.
The stone lion at the NT Chinese Temple came from the gold fields, where the original temple was built.
In the afternoon, Sue, Anna and Fil visited the International Buddhist Centre. This is a Buddhist temple and community centre, founded in the 1970s and used by a number of Buddhists, including Sri Lankan, Vietnamese and Thai communities. Fil filmed the Temple grounds, including statues of Buddha and Guan Yin. That evening, Fil and Anna filmed the iconic banyan tree, Galamarrma, culturally significant to both Larrakia Aboriginal people and the Chinese community, in the Darwin CBD and another spectacular sunset.
Anna and Fil then flew to Broome the following day. That evening, they attended the vibrant Shinju Matsuri Chinatown Feast, enjoying food from many cultures and lively Chinese lion dances. The next day they were very fortunate to interview Mr. Akira Masuda, the oldest surviving Japanese pearl diver, who shared stories of his dangerous work and his Buddhist and Shinto practices.
They also visited the peaceful Blue Buddha Sanctuary, filming the serene three-meter-tall Quan Yin statue in its tropical setting and interviewing its caretaker, Vanessa.
They also visited the peaceful Blue Buddha Sanctuary, filming the serene three-meter-tall Quan Yin statue in its tropical setting and interviewing its caretaker, Vanessa.
The next day began with a fascinating tour by Chris Maher, a Chinese Australian who shared Broome’s rich history of Indigenous, Japanese, and Chinese communities. Anna then interviewed Pearl Hamaguchi, who shared her and her husband’s story of how they met and fell in love, and founded their pearl farm. Their third interview that day was with historian Sarah Yu, who has long studied Broome’s intercultural relations, the history of the Chinese communities in the region and the contributions of Indigenous communities to the pearling industry.
The next day was spent filming Broome’s significant sites, including the cemetery, with many Japanese and Chinese graves, and Chinatown. The following day Anna interviewed Councillor and Walman Yawuru elder Philip Matsumoto, who shared his family’s emotional story of internment during WWII and the resilience of Broome’s Aboriginal, Japanese, and Chinese communities.
That evening Anna and Fil went to Gantheaume Point for the annual Shinju Matsuri Lantern Festival. It was a beautiful warm evening and many families and people gathered at the beach, decorating their lanterns in preparation for sunset. Consul-General of Japan in Perth, Mr Naito Yasushi gave a moving speech about the significance of Broome and the Shinju Matsuri festival acknowledging deep ties between Australia and Japan. Holding his lantern, he then led the parade of Shinju participants down to the shoreline to release the lanterns out to sea.
Fil flew home the following day and Anna stayed on to conduct archival research, to inform future publications and the Digital Atlas of Buddhism in Australia.
This field trip to Darwin and Broome was a rich experience of cultural and religious exploration. The research team is deeply grateful to everyone who shared their stories and wisdom with us.
Frangipani blessings… at the wonderful completion of fieldwork trip 2.