The Weaving of Translocal Networks

Takai traces the lives of Nakatsu Fude (1890–1986) and Shigeta Yasuko (1915–1997), whose movements spanned remote villages, Osaka and Hikone, Japan's empire in Manchuria, and Japanese communities in North America. Their trajectories illuminate how gender shaped mobility, marriage, and livelihood across the Japanese archipelago and beyond. Drawing on the concept of translocality, the study highlights women's agency in forging connections that linked multiple sites across the Pacific world. By foregrounding female experience, it repositions ordinary women at the heart of translocal, transnational, and transpacific histories, challenging narratives centred solely on men or elite actors.