What did a Japanese spy, straight out of spy-school, make of 1940s Australia?

On this week’s Afternoon Light Georgina Downer and guest Craig Collie tell the fascinating and oft times humorous story of Major Sei Hashida. A haplessly conspicuous figure, whose ‘covert’ wartime tour of Australia made national headlines, and whose notebook provides a unique insight into the culture clash between two of WW2’s Pacific belligerents.

Craig Collie is one of Australia’s leading writers of military history and the author of the critically acclaimed The Path of Infinite Sorrow, Nagasaki, The Reporter and the Warlords, Code Breakers, On Our Doorstep, and Where the Flaming Hell Are We? Craig has a special interest in Japanese–Australian history and formerly worked as a TV producer–director, including as Head of Television Production at SBS. His latest book is Major Hashida’s Notebook: A Japanese spy’s mission to Australia in World War II.