Photograph of Daisuke Hayashi with Lower Hutt Ray Wallace

This is a photograph of Daisuke Hayashi taken with then Lower Hutt mayor Ray Wallace. Daisuke Hayashi came to New Zealand in 1997 in his late twenties. In Japan he had been an avid motorcross racer and was ranked in the top 50 at the ATV All Japan Championship but a biking accident sadly forced an end to his racing career. In Wellington, Daisuke first found work on the waterfront with Fergs Kayaks. Following this, he went paragliding in Nelson, but barely survived a bad accident. After the accident, Daisuke came back to Wellington to finish out his Working Holiday Visa and subsequently returned to Japan.

The next year, however, he returned to Pōneke and has since worked in various industries including education. Much of his professional and volunteer work involves engaging with students, whether this be to help improve their English skills or enhance their exposure to standard Japanese language and cultural practices.

Daisuke now has a family with two daughters and is a member of many committees, including the Minoh Friendship Society and Japan Society of Wellington. In 2014 and 2015 he joined the Wellington and Lower Hutt Mayoral Delegations to visit Japanese sister cities Sakai and Minoh respectively.

This photograph is part of a set of 24 photographs featuring twelve people who are either Japanese immigrants to New Zealand, their children, or descendants of Japanese New Zealanders. The images were carefully staged for an exhibition in 2016 which was, in turn, the outcome of a project sponsored by the Japan Society of Wellington and organized by Japan Society member Susan Zou and Noriko Murakami in 2016.

*Text based on interview summaries by Susan Zou and Noriko Murakami for the ‘Japanese Immigrants' experiences in New Zealand’ photographic exhibition, 2016.