Marriage and migration: The private and the public in Hariprabha Takeda’s accounts of Japan

Through an analysis of travel accounts and memoirs of Hariprabha Takeda, this article studies the experiences of a Bengali traveller / migrant to Japan in the first half of the 20th century. It argues that the notion of a pan-Asian identity based on a shared cultural heritage, which was being debated and popularized in early 20th century India, partly shaped her understanding of the society and culture of her new habitation. Focusing on the issues of integration, identity and rootedness, the article emphasizes her experiences as a middle-class migrant and argues that the anti-colonial ideology of the early 20th century and the political turmoil of the wartime years enabled her to build up a sense of belonging with the mainstream community.