MARRYING ACCIDENTALLY, the story of Hatsuko Takara

62pp., illus., paperback, NiSC, Makhanda, 2024

ISBN: 9781920033163

Hatsuko Takara was born in 1933 on Okinawa Island, Japan. In the 1970s, while studying at the University of Edinburgh, she met a Zambian student, Mwamba Darlington Kalabula. She visited Zambia in 1977 and taught at the Ndola School for the Blind, where Kalabula was headmaster. Takara and Kalabula fell in love and chose to have two marriage ceremonies, one in Ndola in 1978 and one in Okinawa in 1981.  Kalabula later converted to Buddhism. The couple were married for 31 years and adopted several children.

Takara founded and chaired the Zambia-Japan Friendship Association and procured financial assistance for what was now called the Ndola Lions School for the Visually Impaired, as well as the Ministry of Education. She also promoted a youth sports exchange programme; introduced a scholarship in the School of Veterinary Medicine and sponsored students at the University of Zambia. 

She was awarded an MA in Literature and African Studies from the University of Zambia in 2008. After Kalabula died Takara moved to her plot outside Lusaka where she and Kalabula had established the Soka Gakkai International Centre to promote the principles of Buddhism in Southern Africa. In 2020 Takara was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays, by the Japanese Emperor, for her service in deepening the mutual relationship and friendship between Japan and Zambia.

Amos Malupenga was managing editor of The Post newspaper before he joined the Government of the Republic of Zambia in 2011. He served as Permanent Secretary in various ministries until 2021. He is the author of Levy Patrick Mwanawasa, an incentive for posterity and Conversations with Memorable Personalities.