ASIA: India, Flavour of the Season in Japan

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Apr 14 2006 (IPS) - Noriko Kobayashi, a yoga teacher, has seen her business boom this past year – a phenomenon which, she says, is the consequence of a new interest in Indian culture in Japan.

”A decade ago, I was a struggling yoga teacher. Today, my classes could be called popular and well-sought after. My new students include both young and middle-aged who sign up because they believe that yoga does wonders for mental and physical conditions,” she explains.

Kobayashi’s jam-packed yoga classes speak volumes for the rising interest on things Indian in Japan, a trend that underscores, according to social and economic experts, how the second most populous country in the world has finally arrived with a bang in a country that has largely ignored South Asia.

”It’s safe to say the old image of India as being a country riddled with poverty and a feudal caste system is being replaced as a place thriving with technology, fashion and an important culture that must be discovered. The Japanese are certainly taking a deep interest in the country,” said Prof. Yoshifumi Mizuno, who has been teaching Buddhism at the Tokyo Foreign Languages University for more than two decades.

Mizuno reports that his student body has also grown steadily since 2002, a welcome change after years of his classes being sidelined to such courses as American history or European art.

”Talking to my students, I realise their growing interest is based on new goals such as teaching about India, starting their own business ventures with Indian counterparts and also as a way of deepening their understanding of the world by learning Indian philosophy or culture,” he says.

Analysts predict that Japan’s growing ties with India will be a lasting phenomenon that will move far beyond the highly respected IT industry that has led the trend so far.

Indeed, they point to how the friendship has received the blessings of the highest political and business circles in a thrust that will greatly enhance the rapid expansion of bilateral relations.

They also see that, unfettered by historical animosities such as those with China and South Korea, former colonies of Japan, and led by a United States that is already making new initiatives to befriend India, Tokyo is courting the South Asian country as a means of ensuring a regional balance in Asia.

”Japan sees the entry of India on the international stage as an important development in Asian regional politics where China is now playing an increasingly active role,” says Norio Kondo, an expert on India at the Institute of Developing Economies, a quasi-governmental thinktank.

In February, Foreign minister Taro Aso, a conservative who is disliked in China – which accuses him of making insensitive comments about Japan’s colonial past – flew to New Delhi for meetings with his counterparts to discuss diplomatic and security issues.

Last year, Japan and India worked together with Germany and Brazil in a bid to become permanent members of the United Nations Security Council.

India is now the highest recipient of Japanese overseas assistance, taking over from China. Tokyo pledged 1.3 billion US dollars for the financial year 2006- the largest soft loan package ever and representing 15.6 percent increase over the previous year..

On the economic front as well, India has loomed large as a favourable investment destination and trading partner given its seven percent annual economic growth rate and burgeoning middle-class.

Japanese automakers have led the way. Names like Suzuki and Toyota already dominate the Indian passenger car market. Trade is about 4.5 billion dollars annually and Japanese investment now hovers at around two billion dollars, three times higher than 2002.

Despite the overall rosy picture, analysts say there are still many pitfalls on the way that Japan will have to avoid while making its way into a country that is still largely unknown territory.

”Japan cannot expect the same overall successful results it has had with South-east Asia since the eighties and nineties when Japanese companies invested heavily in the region,” says Yoshie Shimane, economist and expert on India.

Japanese companies will also have to come to terms with India’s stiff labour laws to avoid situations like the one, last year, in which vehicle manufacturer Honda was compelled to reinstate sacked employees after months of labour agitation.

Shimane explains that Japanese companies have also to compete against Korean and Western companies that have been in India much longer as well as a thriving local industrial base in comparison to South east Asia which basically depended on Japanese technology.

On the political front, experts say India will not be pressured by Japan into acting as a counterweight against China. India-China trade relations are still four times more in compared to those with Japan.

Looking at the cultural aspect, Tamaki Matsuoka, an Indian film expert in Japan, says the attractiveness of India is still new and must be nurtured carefully in a country where the appeal of South Asia is still new.

”Culturally there are similarities between India and Japan as two Asian countries with a Buddhist background but exposure on both sides is low. Japan tends to follow the West and looks down a little bit on its Asian neighbours. But with India becoming an important political and economic partner, there is a good opportunity to forge ahead,” she explains.