India - Japan Relations

MY LIFE AS A LONG-TERM INDIAN RESIDENT OF JAPAN AND MY INVOLVEMENT IN PROMOTING INDIA-JAPAN CULTURAL RELATIONS  

My connection with Japan began 44 years ago, in February 1976, when I arrived in Tokyo as a United Nations official to start working for the newly established United Nations University, which is a unique international academic institution dealing with issues of human survival and development as an organ of the United Nation.  Following retirement from the U.N. University in 1996, I decided to stay on in Japan and have been living here now for more than four decades. 

Promotion of India-Japan Relations

While my work with the U.N. University was of an international character, my long stay in Japan provided me with an excellent opportunity to establish contacts and friendships, both officially and socially, with the Japanese people in the Government, academic circles, business, and social and cultural organizations in Japan. I also made many more Japanese friends in the City of Urayasu, where my family has been living for the last 40 years, and where I got actively involved in several community activities in the city.  Moreover, as my wife is Japanese, I acquired relatives in Japan.

During my long stay in Japan, I got to know Japan and Japanese people well and became an admirer of the Japanese culture. I appreciate the quietness, cleanliness, and kindness of the Japanese people and the egalitarian society of Japan. One cannot find another example of a society that has progressed so rapidly in attaining high levels of development and growth and creating a modern society without losing its cultural roots.

What has also been of great help to me in making friends and assimilating in the Japanese society is my keen interest in learning traditional Japanese folk music (Enka and Minyo). Soon after coming to Japan when I first heard Japanese Enka songs, I was attracted because I found the melodies to be quite similar to Indian Ghazals that I used to sing when I was young. Even while working for the U.N. University in Tokyo, I started taking lessons in singing Enka and later Minyo. After years of training, I have been singing on stage and television, taking part in contests, and winning prizes. 

The Japanese folk songs also helped me in understanding the Japanese culture better, and I began to perceive similarities between the cultures of India and Japan. Not only through songs but also during my day-to-day interaction with family and friends in Japan, I have noticed that we tend to share the same values.  What I have observed at weddings, festivals and other social occasions in Japan is that while the styles and decorations may be different, there are certain basic similarities in the traditions and customs of Japan and India.

This inspired me to study more in depth about the centuries-old spiritual connections between Japan and India that began in the 6th century when Buddha’s message of compassion reached the shores of Japan via China. This spiritual connection between Japan and India could also be deduced from the fact that there are several gods and goddesses of Indian origin in Japanese mythology and folklore.  Also, the cultural links between India and Japan were further renewed through contacts between renowned Indian and Japanese scholars, most notably visits to Japan by Swami Vivekananda in 1893 and by Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore in the early years of the 20th century when Gurudev developed a special friendship with the famous Japanese scholar, Okakura Tenshin. The old spiritual and cultural values in the society in Japan and India still persist even though they are not visible in the daily lifestyles of people in our two countries.

Throughout my long stay in Japan, I have enjoyed participating in events that are organized by the Embassy of India in Tokyo, the Japan India Association, and other organizations to promote social and cultural exchanges between the peoples of Japan and India. I have also had the pleasure to be associated with several other social and cultural associations in Japan; for example, as a founding member and currently Special Adviser of the English Speaking Union of Japan (ESUJ), which promotes international communication through the use of English; and Counsellor of the International Youth Exchange Organization (IYEO), which promotes intercultural friendship between the world youth. I get invited occasionally to give talks on India-Japan relations, which I do mostly in Japanese but sometimes in English. In my talks, I also present songs from India and Japan and highlight similarities between the cultures of our two countries. 

When Japan faced the triple tragedy of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear plant disaster on March 11, 2011, the whole world shared in its sorrow, and at the same time it also admired the fortitude, discipline, and resilience of the Japanese people and prayed for a reenergized Japan. At that time, India had also sent a special contingent to Japan to help and support the people in the affected areas. The Indian contingent was based in the Town of Onagawa-cho in Miyagi Prefecture in East Japan, and thus developed a special connection between the Onagawa-cho and India. An Indian cultural festival is held at the Onagawa-cho occasionally; in one such festival, I participated and sang Japanese Minyo folk songs, accompanied on Shamisen by a local musician. When I sang “Sansa Shigure”, a very popular song of celebration of the Miyagi Prefecture itself, the people of Onagawa-cho loved it and joined me – it was a deeply touching moment for me.

Incidentally, ten years ago, on March 11, 2011, the day of the triple tragedy referred to above, I had gone to Nikko City to take part in a contest for the Minyo song from that area entitled “Nikko Yama Uta”. Unfortunately, on the morning of the day of the contest, the earthquake happened and the earth started shaking, causing damage to the building where the contest was to take place. The contest was cancelled and I made it back home in Urayasu City, which had also been damaged by the earthquake. It was a frightening experience.

I have also written articles in magazines in Japan, in English and Japanese, about the similarities of our cultures and about the new era of growing bilateral relations between our two countries. I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to the Japan Economic Foundation (JEF) for publishing, in their English magazine “JAPAN SPOTLIGHT”, many of my articles about “India-Japan Relations” and about the energy and environment-related challenges being faced by our world today. Here are the links to my articles: 

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/170th_viewpoints.pdf

“JAPAN, INDIA AND UNITED NATIONS – Reflections of a long-term Indian Resident of Japan”  - 2010 

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/179th_special_article.pdf

“GLOBAL SAFETY OF NUCLEAR ENERGY – Lessons from Fukushima and Chernobyl” – 2011

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/185th_cover04.pdf

“ENERGY SECURITY – Special Challenges for the Asian Region, with Focus on India” - 2012

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/188th_special_article02.pdf

“A PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE OF A LONG-TERM RESIDENT OF JAPAN & SINGER OF JAPANESE FOLK SONGS” - 2013

https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/194th_special_article04.pdf

“PROMOTING JAPAN-INDIA FRIENDSHIP AND COOPERATION” - 2014
https://www.jef.or.jp/journal/pdf/201st_Special_article_2.pdf

“MESSAGE OF MAHATMA GANDHI” – 2015

 Japan has been a consistent supporter of the development of the Indian economy and it is deeply involved in India’s infrastructural development, including metro rail projects in Delhi and other metropolitan cities, as well as other flagship projects. The strong bilateral ties between Japan and India now also encompass converging political and strategic interests, and I believe that these will be beneficial not only for our two countries but will also contribute towards long-term regional and global prosperity and stability in the 21st century.]

My Long Stay in Urayasu City 

When I first came to Japan in 1976, we started living in Tokyo. Later on, in 1981, we decided to move to Urayasu City, a suburban area near Tokyo, where we have been living for the last four decades. Nowadays, Urayasu is one of the fastest-growing urban centers in Japan, made famous by the location of Disneyland in the city. However, when we moved here, Urayasu was still a small town and people living here were friendly and warm-hearted.  I made many friends here and started taking part in local community activities. 

In 1986, the then Mayor of Urayasu City, Mr. Kumagawa invited me to join a committee to discuss the setting up of an intercultural association in the city, which led to the creation of the Urayasu International Friendship Association (UIFA). Soon thereafter, the Mayor also supported the establishment of the Urayasu Foreign Residents Association (UFRA), which I served as President for 17 years, and now serve as its Senior Advisor. Thanks to these two associations, working closely together, Urayasu has become a truly international city, where the foreign and Japanese residents live in harmony. A great number of nationalities are represented among the foreign residents of the city, with a richness of different cultures.  The City issues a monthly Newsletter in Japanese and English.  As you will see from the photo below, the inaugural issue of this English Newsletter contained messages from Mr Kumagawa, Mayor of Urayasu, and myself in my capacity as the President of the Urayasu Foreign Residents Association (UFRA) .

I would also like to add that several other social associations also promote a spirit of friendliness and cooperation among the residents of the city. I benefitted a great deal from my membership of such associations like the Seaside Lions Club of Urayasu and the Active Aging Net Urayasu (AANU), which was formed on the pattern of the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)

I feel fully integrated in the community in Urayasu, and have been participating actively in several social, cultural, and recreational activities in the city. In recognition of my contributions to the community, Mr. Hideki Matsuzaki, the then Mayor of Urayasu City, honored me with an “Education and Culture Award” in November 2007. To me, Urayasu City feels like a “home away from home”.

Role of the “Discover India Club” (DIC) in Japan

In recent years there has been a remarkable increase in the business ties between Japan and India. The Japan India Association, of which I have been a member since my arrival in Japan, has been making concentrated efforts to promote Japan-India relations for more than a century.  There are also many other institutions in Japan that have been actively involved in the promotion of business and economic relations between Japan and India. It was felt, however, that there was a need to enhance and strengthen more people-to-people contacts between Japan and India, particularly between the youth of our two countries.

In 2013, the “Discover India Club” (DIC) was established in Japan with the mission to promote cultural and people-to-people relations between Japan and India. It was a great honor for me to be elected as the President of the “Discover India Club” (DIC). The DIC attracts people in Japan who have experience of India, and who want to explore India further and contribute to building and expanding bilateral relations through cultural festivals and events. As one of its important activities, the DIC collects information on the Indian way of life, business, and society and disseminates it among the general public in Japan through its website and through seminars and cultural and educational functions.

The foundation ceremony of the DIC was held on 18th October 2013 at the Vivekananda Cultural Centre (VCC) Auditorium of the Embassy of India in Tokyo, at which messages of support were received from Her Excellency Mrs. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, the then Ambassador of India in Japan, and from His Excellency Ambassador Hiroshi Hirabayashi, President of The Japan India Association. Since its establishment, the DIC has been able to organize several functions very successfully. Seminars and lectures on different aspects of Indian life and society are organized on a regular basis. 

The DIC also organized its first Cultural Tour to India in November 2017, which was joined by several Japanese participants.  During the tour, many cultural activities were undertaken. In New Delhi, the first “KONNICHIWA JAPAN” Festival was organized in collaboration with the “Konnichiwa Japan Club” (KJC), which has been established in New Delhi, India. Several members of the DIC travelled to India to join the Festival. I also joined and gave a presentation of Japanese traditional folk songs During the two-day Festival, a great variety of programs of Japanese culture and society was presented and enjoyed by thousands of persons who attended the Festival. Two Sumo wrestlers also came all the way from Japan to India to join the Festival and gave an excellent display of the traditional Japanese sport. 

The India Tour also included a visit to Ahmedabad at the invitation of Mr. Mukesh Patel, President of the India-Japan Friendship Association (IJFA), Ahmedabad, Gujarat State. In Ahmedabad, cultural activities for the participants were organized by the India-Japan Friendship Association (IJFA), in alliance with the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA), and arrangements were also made for homestay with Indian families, which the participants enjoyed very much.  

During this tour to Ahmedabad, the DIC participants also visited Nootan Bharati School in a village, 200 kms from Ahmedabad. This visit was arranged by Mrs. Tomo Kawane, a member of the DIC, who has been supporting an educational program for school children there for more than 20 years. A Sakura tree was also planted on that occasion

On another occasion, in collaboration with the Japanese Cherry Blossom Association, Sakura trees were planted in North-East India as a symbol of India-Japan friendship.

The first KONNICHIWA JAPAN Festival, held in New Delhi in 2017, was such a great success that it has been decided to hold this Festival in New Delhi every year. The Festivals held in 2018 and 2019 were also a great success, However, in 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Festival could not be held on stage in New Delhi. It was, therefore, decided to hold it online, and a video program of different aspects of the Japanese culture was displayed online for people in India and elsewhere on 25 December 2020. The two-hour long online program of the Festival can be seen at the following link:

(89) Konnichiwa Japan Ⅳ Virtual 2020 - YouTube.

The link below is for the shorter version of the program, which includes my message as the President of the Discover India Club (DIC), Japan. https://youtu.be/R0MBiS7aXRU

Concluding Remarks

It gives me great pleasure to report that there are clear indications of growing interest, both in Japan and India, in improving social and personal contacts between the peoples of our two countries. On both sides, sustained efforts are being made to further strengthen the already close bilateral relations between Japan and India. We believe strongly that enhanced exchanges between the peoples of our two countries would provide a strong foundation for long-term, mutually beneficial bilateral relations between Japan and India.

The members of the DIC in Japan deeply appreciate the strong support they receive from the Embassy of India in Tokyo, the Japan India Association, and other organizations interested in promoting and strengthening Japan-India friendship and collaboration.

Personally, for myself, at the ripe old age of 86 years, and having spent half of my life as an Indian resident of Japan, it is only natural that I plan to devote the rest of my life for the promotion of friendship and cooperation between the peoples of Japan and India.