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Sakuragawa Rikinosuke: Australia’s first recorded Japanese migrant
Sakuragawa Rikinosuke (R) and Togawa Iwakichi as a seven year old boy, on the ladder Source: Supplied
Most early migrants to Australia had their names mangled by clerks who wrote them down as they heard them. When a man named Rikinosuke arrived in Melbourne from Japan in 1873, his name was recorded on Australian documents as “Dicinoski.” Gavin Dicinoski, who lives on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, grew up believing his surname was Polish — until one day he discovered it actually traced back to a Japanese man. This story was first published in April 2023.
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