IT'S BEEN A FAST 50 YEARS

YOKO Miyazaki didn't realise that some people opposed her visit to Australia — and that was probably a blessing.

As a 16-year-old in 1962, she applied to be Australia's first Japanese Rotary exchange student, at a time when many older Australians remained deeply upset about the events of World War II.

When Ms Miyazaki returned recently to visit her former host families and friends at Rosebud Rotary, she marvelled that she had felt so welcome as a teenager that she had not realised the extent of the furore surrounding her visit. (click below to read more)

Her host brother, Alan Farquhar, was more aware of how some saw the exchange. "It was very controversial," he says.

The exchange came about through the dogged efforts of an unlikely advocate. Mr Farquhar's father, Don, was blinded during the war by a Japanese attack on the RAAF plane he was navigating.

Alan Farquhar recalls: "In 1961 he decided to go to one of the first international Rotary conferences held in Tokyo after the war. Many of his close friends in the RSL tried to talk him out of going."

At that event, Don Farquhar proposed a youth exchange program between the two countries. That this was proposed by a veteran with such a serious shrapnel injury inflicted by the Japanese confounded many.

Few could understand why Mr Farquhar wasn't bitter. His son recalls how his father's determination to forge links between the nations inspired others to support the program. "For the Rotarians to decide this needed to happen only 15 years out from such a hell of an event was extraordinary," Alan Farquhar says.

"And don't forget there was still a White Australia policy. Not everyone wanted it but from the moment Yoko arrived any negativity was swept away by her personality."

Don Farquhar died in 1984 but his generosity of spirit was remembered in the 1988 book Unsung Her-oes & Heroines of Aus-tralia, edited by Suzy Baldwin.

Looking back, Ms Miyazaki is surprised her parents were not worried about her travelling to Australia. "It was unusual at that time. They were very open-minded."

Ms Miyazaki made many friends and the experience helped her gain work as a flight attendant for Qantas and other airlines. She later lived in Egypt before returning to Japan.

"My life became exciting and broader," she says. "My host families treated me like a daughter or sister, and I met so many people from different countries that I became more open. My father was taken aback when I came home and threw my arms around him and kissed him."

Staff and students at the then Rosebud High School were also ahead of the times in 1962, with The Mikado performed by the school in honour of their visiting exchange student. Ms Miyazaki was in the chorus.

Rosebud Secondary's focus on Japan has endured, with language learning from years 7 to 12, a sister school in Japan and regular exchanges.

Principal John Miller says students and parents were visibly moved when Rotarian David Jarman explained Don Farquhar's link to the school's Japanese language program at last year's awards ceremony. "They sat up and their jaws dropped."

Ms Miyazaki spoke to the students and presented a new Rotary scholarship to support year 10 students to study Japanese.

Rotarian Stuart McDonald, who is co-ordinating coming exchange programs, says Ms Miyazaki's experience demonstrates the power of — and the bonds formed — during international exchanges.

Applications close on March 31 for exchanges to Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Taiwan and other countries this year.