In 1906, at a concert held in the Victoria Hall in the Corso, Manly, there were some exotic guests - officers and men from the Imperial Japanese Navy, who were visiting Sydney. The Japanese visitors were greeted at Manly Wharf as they arrived by ferry, by a volley of blanks fired by the local company of volunteers. They were escorted to the Victoria Hall, where they were welcomed to Manly by Mayor E W Quirk (pictured). Their leader, Commander Ishikawa, responded, and his remarks were translated by a young Lieutenant, Seizo Kobayashi.
Lieutenant Kobayashi (1877-1962) had an extraordinary career. He visited Australia several times. In 1912, he served on the Royal Navy ship HMS Collingwood as an attache. During WWI, he was awarded the US Navy Cross, for his actions in support of the Allied fleet. After WWI he represented Japan on the committee for disposal of enemy vessels, and no doubt saw to it that Japan received her share of Germany's naval fleet.
He returned to Sydney in 1928 commanding the Idzumo, and hosted the NSW Premier, T R Bavin, to a dinner on board. He inspected the guard of honour at Government House. Clearly, he would have spoken English fluently, and the succession of diplomatic postings he undertook may well have had a deeper espionage role.
Kobayashi rose to become an Admiral in the First Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and was a Rear-Admiral during the Japanese campaign in Manchuria. From September 1936 to November 1940, he was the Governor-General of Formosa (now Taiwan), where it is reported that he carried out a policy of 'Japanization'. He must have had blood on his hands.
It must have been rare indeed for a Japanese combatant facing the US forces in WWII to have been decorated by them in WWI.
Kobayashi resigned his post of Admiral in early 1945, and attempted to lead a group of officers of uncompromising bent, the Imperial Rule Assistance Political Society, hoping to persuade the Emperor not to surrender. The defeat of Japan put an end to his political hopes.
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