Indians in the land of the rising sun
There is a sizeable Indian community settled in Japan.
But the tsunami and the earth quake on March 11 wrecked
the north-east of the country hitting them very hard, devastating
their livelihoods and business. Indians are also involved
in the IT sector. London journalist SHAMLAL PURI reports on the settling of a community
and the problems they face in their adopted country after the tsunami.
INDIANS IN THE LAND OF THE RISING SUN
By Shamlal Puri
The massive earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011, caused widespread destruction and suffering among the communities there. More than 28,000 people have been reported dead or missing and tens of thousands were still living in evacuation centres.
There are some 25,000 Indians living in Japan. Fortunately, there were no reports of casualties among the Indians. The community is concentrated in the Kanto and Kansai regions.
Indians have lived in Japan since the 1800s but they had arrived in dribs and drabs. According to records, as early as 1873, a few Indian businessmen and their families - mainly Sindhis and Parsis - had settled in Okinawa and Yokohama.
The today's famed Tata family had set up a branch of their then small business in Kobe in 1891. By 1901, official Japanese statistics showed that there were 30 people from British India. In 1905, official figures showed there were 59 Indians in the Hyogo Prefecture. Of them, all but one, were men.
But the Great Kanto earthquake wreaked havoc in Yokohama in 1923, killing 20 Indians and forcing the traders to migrate to Kobe, the city which then became the centre for Japan's Indian community.
Interestingly, in the 1900s Japan hosted a few Indian revolutionaries fighting against British colonial rule. One of these was Rash Behari Bose, who married the daughter of the owner of a Tokyo confectionery called Nakamuraya. To this day, Nakamuraya says on its corporate Web site that Bose was outraged by the bad taste of a dish sold here as "Indian curry." As a result, he introduced an "authentic" Indian curry menu at Nakamuraya, having selected the spices and other ingredients himself.
By 1939, the number of Indians in Hyogo Prefecture had increased to 632 but the Second World War and the consequent British sanctions against Japan put a dampener in the growth of the community. The ban on shipping between Japan and British India forced many Indians settled there to close their shops, depleting their numbers to 114 by 1942. After India's partition in 1947, the number of Indians settling in Japan showed a marked increase to 255. By now the community also included four Pakistani citizens.
Today's Indians in Japan are third generation descendents of the early arrivals. Most of them are Japanese citizens.
Apart from those already with their roots in Japan, there are many new arrivals from India. Today, according to the Japanese Immigration Bureau, there are more than 25,000 Indians living in the country - less than one per cent of Japan's two million foreign residents. This is a merely a drop in the ocean.
In fact, Indians were the fastest-growing group of foreign nationals in Tokyo in 2006, with their number jumping 8 percent from the year before, to 7,581, according to Tokyo Metropolitan Government data.
Kobe was the centre of the Indian community until around 1990 but as Japan started setting up car factories in India, a growing number of industrial trainees started arriving in the country to learn the expertise.
India's growing reputation as an IT giant attracted the attention of Japan and by 2009 Indian engineers set up base in Japan. Today, they are the backbone of Japan's IT industry. There were some 800 Indian IT engineers working in Japan up from 120 in 1993. The IT professionals and their families settled primarily in the wards of Mimato and Setgaya in Tokyo.
The growing Indian food and restaurant business attracted its own crop of experts. Some 870 cooks arrived from India and settled in Japan catering for a growing industry and clientele for Indian cuisine.
Others are engaged in trading, importing Indian handicrafts, garments, precious stones, and marine products, and exporting Japanese electronic goods, textiles, automotive parts, and jewellery.
Japan's Indians speak several different languages and follow various religions. Jains work largely in the jewellery industry. The Jains are generally concentrated around Okachi-machi in Taito, Tokyo.
Interestingly enough, Tokyo has fewer religious facilities for Indians than Kobe. There are Sikh temples in both Kobe and Tokyo, the latter founded in 1999 and based in an office building.
The Sikh temple in Kobe offers room for prayers and meals for devotees until around mid-day on Sundays only. At a short distance is a Jain temple where some devotees choose to visit.
Some unskilled labourers from the Sikh community working in small businesses cut their hair short and remove their turbans because their unemployers are unfamiliar with their customs and discriminate against their style of dress and appearance. Sikhs in the IT industry maintain their religious tenets of long hair and turban.
As the community settled here, organisations were established to meet their social needs.
Oriental Club, one of the earliest Indian community organisations, was established in Kobe in 1904. It changed its name to The India Club in 1913 and continues to operate till today. It is based in the Shrimati Aruna Rajen Jhaveri building.
More community organisations were founded in the 1930s, including the Indian-dominated Silk Merchants Association, the Indian Social Society and the Indian Chamber of Commerce. The recent addition was the Indian Community of Edogawa, catering for Indian expatriates living in Edogawa, Tokyo, an area with a high concentration of Indian IT engineers. Another group, the Indian Community Activities holds the annual Diwali celebrations which draws more than 2,500 guests. The Indian Merchants Association in Yokohama, also attracts many members of the community.
Indians who send their children to school in Japan generally select English-medium schools. But the first Indian-specific school was established in 2004 in the Koto ward in Tokyo. This was an initiative of the families of traders based in Tokyo and Yokohama.
The grouse used to be that parents were forced to send their children to schools where it was compulsory for them to study Japanese.
In the past many Indians left their families behind during their stint in Japan, but now the tables are turned and some are now bringing them along -- and they are steadily putting down roots here. They pull their children out of boarding schools in India to educate them in Japan. This has been helped in part by the opening of two international schools catering for the Indian community. These schools are popular not only among the Indian expatriates but also Japanese who are keen to get their children educated there because of their reputation for rigour in mathematics.
These families are no longer worried about their children's education and the language. The children slowly pick up Japanese.
But it is not all a bed of roses for those Indians living in Japan. They have to adapt to their new lives or put up with many inconveniences and shortages. This is particularly among the middle level and low-earning families living away from Tokyo.
"Japan is an expensive country to live in," says Jas, a Punjabi home-maker and a resident of Kobe. "We all come here to earn money but at the same time have to live differently from the way we live in India."
"Everyone is so clued up to how much money a certain family has made in Japan but even they have to make do adapting to life in Japan. I am talking of the availability of Indian food here."
She says it is very difficult to buy basmati rice in Japan and when it is available, it sells at a high premium. People eat Japanese rice, the staple food. She complains that not all kinds of lentils are available in the shops.
"Even fresh vegetables are not available as they are in India. You have to make do with what you can get in the market. I can think of okra, they are quite expensive to buy at times. The same goes for coriander or spinach."
There is slightly better choice for non-vegetarians as there is plenty of chicken and fish available.
Jas says Indian fruits are sold at a premium - a mango can cost around four dollars each. "Water melon is out of the reach of many ordinary Indian families but if you are rich and can afford them, then there is no problem."
She misses eating Indian sweets which are not openly available as they are at home. "So you can imagine how Indian residents here have to adapt and change their eating habits!"
Bollywood films are always the centre of attraction for any Indian community but there are no cinemas showing these. It is even difficult to purchase the DVDs in the shops. Enterprising Indians in places like Kobe have however, set up networking among friends to import these films in small quantities from the US or Canada for personal use. Some outlets in Tokyo have recently started stocking DVDs of Bollywood movies.
Indians socialize in small groups once a month in Tokyo and Kobe. It is here they talk of their lives in Japan and the problems they are up against.
Jas says it is very important to network among friends because it is very easy to miss important religious celebrations as information on them is not readily available.
Mohinder, who lives in Tokyo, says jovially "When you hire a taxi, don't even dare to stare at the meter, you're bound to get a heart attack with the charges that it is clocking up!"
But living in Japan is not all doom and gloom.
An interesting new development is the Japanese love for the Indian curry. They rip apart freshly baked naan, using it to mop up fiery curries made from authentic Indian spices. Indian food is now available throughout Japan.
Community observers say there are more than 1,700 Indian cooks working in the Kanto region and 500 in the rest of Japan. There are some 800 Indian restaurants in Japan.
The market for Indian restaurants is set to grow in Japan as the community continues to grow. Those with money to spare can buy Indian spices and ingredients in selected shops and there is a growing interest in Indian cookery.
Nairs was the first authentic Indian restaurant to open in Japan in 1949. The restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, has been popular with those in search of authentic food. It continues to produce cuisine made from the same recipes that were offered by its founder Ayappan Pillai Mhadavan Nair, a close friend and an ally of the Indian freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, when it first opened in 1949.
Its most popular dish is the Murugi lunch - a hearty meal that includes a mash potato, boiled cabbage and a curry that has been simmered down along with a leg of chicken for an incredible seven hours. The dish contains meat so soft that it practically falls off the bone the moment you pick it up. The dish is a treat to savour.
It took many years for other Indian restaurants to open their doors after Nair's, but when they finally did, the response was phenomenal and the growth continues.
Yog Kapoor opened Samrat in October 1980 as Shibuya's first-ever authentic Indian restaurant -- and people came in droves. There are now 15 Samrat branches in the Kanto region.
Similarly, Nanak, opened by Gurbir Singh in 1985 as Kyushu's first Indian eatery, was such a hit that by 1991 he had a chain of 17 outlets.
The soaring popularity of these restaurants is not only due to the growing influx of Indians living and working in Japan but the Japanese people's growing interest in Indian culinary delights. Each restaurant sets out to carve a niche in a market that is getting crowded.
The South Indian palate has also caught the attention of the customers of Dhaba India, near Tokyo Station. This eatery is packed almost every night of the week, on weekends and at lunchtimes. The restaurant's popularity comes from its south Indian dishes. Their specialties include masala dosa, Malabar fish curry and mutton curry with fresh coriander masala. To maintain its standards, Dhaba India uses spices specially imported from India -- including shipments of fresh curry leaves it has from its vacationing chefs who visit India every few months.
With this is the growing market for Indian spices. Tokyo is an important hub for the supply of spices to the Indian restaurant business. One of the main suppliers is Ambika Trading Co. (ATC) in Tokyo.
ATC began its journey in 1998, by importing fine quality spices and food products from India and introducing them in Japan. Over the years it has carved a niche for itself in the Japanese market as a leader in importing and selling a wide range of quality food products from India.
Its President Nitin Hingarh says his company has been importing fine quality food products from India, offering a variety of about 700 kinds of food, imported directly from India. ATC is associated with reputed Indian food companies like Haldiram's, Amul, Lal Quila, Hamdard, Gits, Bikaji etc. through exclusive sales contracts.
"Our company has pioneered in introducing many Indian products like Atta, Ghee, Paneer, Indian Onion, Best Quality Lal Quila Basmati Rice, etc in Japan for the very first time. Among other business houses dealing in Indian Products in Japan, we have been the first and by now the only Indian Company to import Fresh Indian Alphonso Mango. We also have to our credit the introduction of Juices of Indian Mango, Indian Pomegranate and Indian Guava. Bottled in Japan, these juices are 100% Natural, free from any added preservative, color or flavor."
As the Indian community continues to grow in Japan, there is every reason to believe that the number of shops selling Indian groceries will be established in other parts of Japan. Housewives like Jas will be able to get easy access to Indian food items as they do in India. The transition to this is already underway.
While many members of the Indian community are picking the pieces after the March 11 disaster, knowing well Japan is the land of earthquakes. Their resilience is so strong that in spite of the tragedy, they will continue to live in the land of rising sun.
-- Shamlal Puri
