India and Japan: News and Discussion

[Karan M]

Not "we" - just a handful of sky is falling types who rave and rage against the BJP/NaMo on one day, turn around and praise them the next day, and then its back to square 1 on day 3. Completely topsy turvy emotions.

[svinayak]

Not "we" - just a handful of sky is falling types who rave and rage against the BJP/NaMo on one day, turn around and praise them the next day, and then its back to square 1 on day 3. Completely topsy turvy emotions.

Every day I am encountering these people who are terrified of Modi being successful and Modi s ideas becoming dominant. Some are worried about the opposition to him. One Tamil Indian lady is worried about the protest to his visit in US from Khalistani. She is worried about physical safety

The long term effort of the mental subversion will take a long time to wear off. patience is required.

[JE Menon]

>>Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF), which finds itself in sympathy with Sangh Parivar ideology

Observe the bias of "The Hindu" and either it's editorial team, or the writer Nistula Hebbar... I have yet to see a single newspaper referring to any of the other institutes as a "secularist" or "leftwing" or anything of the sort - though they quite clearly are - as is this newspaper, which is basically a Chinese mouthpiece - journalism with communist characteristics.

Spread this about the Hindu. People must think before they pay for this trash.

[Pulikeshi]

Quite interesting.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/pm-to-attend-meet-on-indic-thought/article7597750.ece

I'd said this before... but the latests post I had on related lines came from the following post on the:
Bebbington Quadrilateral
My humble recommendation for the East as well as the West if India were to take this up...

All that said, I will also present some counter intutive ideas on areas of collaboration, yes, that too makes sense -
Here is my theory. If you look at the Pew - Future of World Religions, the Christians, in particular the Protestants and among them the Evangelical of different shades may be effective in many new parts of the world, but they are loosing ground in their home states. You will also notice that the 'Unaffiliated and Buddhists' show a decline. This means, Hindus atleast if we engineer things correctly have an opportunity to collaborate with these folks in several areas, even as we compete with them in others. Example in vast areas of the Middle-East, perhaps even Pakistan, it is to Indian interest to perhaps encourage Evangelical activity. This can be done, even as Hindus, spread their ideas in the West where there is disillusionment with the Church among the monied and educated. However, in the same vein, it is also to Indian advantage to strengthen Buddhism outside India, especially in Asia. It is imperative that we become more external focussed... the folks inside India (sorry to say this...) will follow whatever becomes fashionable in the West eventually onlee. Just my few paisas to get an argument going...

[SSridhar]

Spread this about the Hindu. People must think before they pay for this trash.

I agree JEM. Ten years back, my mom who had been reading The Hindu ever since she was small, told me to stop subscribing to it, a request which I was only too happy to oblige with.

[JE Menon]

^^I persuaded my father to do the same. He'd been at it for decades.

The only way to get these chaps to adapt to reality is to make bias expensive, and to continuously and repeatedly highlight it. Or they must be identified as such. If VIF is "sangh parivar", then "The Hindu" is a Chinese communist mouthpiece. Let the people choose.

[Paul]

[SSridhar]

Japan to modernize Indian railway stations - PTI

Japan has agreed to modernise railway stations across the country while participating in Indian Railways' $140 billion investment plan over the next five years.

A Japanese delegation will soon visit India to study the opportunities for industries in the railway station development plan of railways as the public transporter has identified 400 stations to be upgraded in private investment, an official release said here today.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who is in Japan to strengthen cooperation in rail sector, held a series of high-level meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso among other ministers and senior officials and has highlighted that the Indian public transporter would be the next major destination for infrastructure investment worth $140 billion, it said.

Participation of Japanese railways and Japanese companies in various areas of Indian Railways with the aim of modernisation and technology upgradation was also emphasised in the discussions.

While agreeing for cooperation on modernisation and upgradation, Japan has agreed to assist the public transporter in achieving its zero-accident mission.

Railways research wing - Research Designs & Standards Organisation (RDSO), will sign an MoU with Railway Technical Research Institute of Japan to carry out research work on acquiring modern technology for the public transporter, as per the finalisation of the action plan.

Prabhu also held meetings with heads of leading financial institutions and highlighted the investment prospects in railways in the coming years. Railways has chalked out a plan to investment $140 billion in infrastructure upgradation in the next five years, the release said.

Japan will also provide its expertise and technology in solving problems of sanitation including the development of waterless, odourless toilets in trains and at stations, it added.

Besides, the country has also agreed to assist Indian Railways in development of a legal and regulatory framework on high speed railway here, the official statement said.

[Bhurishrava]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34287362
Japan to allow military role overseas in historic move.

[SSridhar]

We know that some Tamil film actors have a wide following in Japan, that Japanese live in big numbers in Chennai due to many Japanese companies, that Chennai has a large number of Japanese language learners etc. But, this one is different.

Thavil and Tamil: the twin passions of a Japanese - The Hindu

Learning a foreign language has an added advantage. In the case of Hidenori Ishi, Tamil language skills not only secured him a job in the customer relations section of Nippon Express, a Japanese Logistics Services Company, but also provided a reason to stay in Chennai to pursue his passion for thavil playing.

On Sunday, he accompanied nagaswaram {Nagaswaram or nathaswaram is a wind instrument and thavil is a percussion instrument used as an accompaniment to that in Carnatic music concerts or temple functions and other auspicious occasions} player Tirupampuram S.H. Ramanathan at the festival of Vedanta Desikar temple in Mylapore. He will be playing in the mornings and evenings during the festival.

“I came to India to learn kanjira {Kanjira is a percussion instrument used to accompany Carnatic music vocalists}. The majestic sound of thavil , however, captivated me,” says 33-year-old Ishi, a native of Kamakura, a town located 50 km from Tokyo.

But for his physical features, Mr. Ishi, clad in dhoti and a shawl around his shoulder to cover his bare chest and to carry thavil , will pass as a seasoned thavil player. He prefers conversation in Tamil and carefully avoids using English words.

“Naan Parangimalail veedu vaadagaikku eduthu irukkiern (I have rented a house in St Thomas Mount). I do not eat non-vegetarian during purattasi month,” he says.

Nine years have passed since Mr. Ishi made Chennai his home. He fell for the beats of kanjira after listening to the combination of T.H. Selvaganesh and tabla player Zakir Hussain. Soon, he became a disciple of Mr. Selvaganesh. It was while learning the instrument at Triplicane, he listened to local thavil player Sekar.

“I regularly visited him. A thani avarthanam by two eminent thavil players Thanjavur T.R. Govindarajan and Mannargudi Vasudevan at a concert mesmerised me,” he recalls. “I immediately joined a diploma course in Thiruvaiyaru College, where Mr. Govindarajan was teaching. Subsequently, I learnt from Tirukadaiyur T.G. Babu at Annamalai University, where I did my under-graduation in thavil playing,” says Mr Ishi, the only son of Keiji Ishi, a former government employee and Junko Ishi.

His parents had reservations about his passion as he decided to study thavil after schooling instead of pursuing higher studies. “But they gradually reconciled themselves to the reality. I can also play Japanese percussion instrument, Taiko. I have to practise a lot to become an ace thavil player,” says Mr. Ishi.

At the Mylapore temple, he played along with another thavil player Thirumarugal Sekar, who was encouraging Ishi to play in temples and concerts. “I will inform him whenever there is a concert and if he is not working, he will join me,” said Mr. Sekar. Mr. Ishi’s future plans include marrying a Tamil girl and learn paddy farming at Thanjavur. “Is there any Tamil girl you know,” he asks as he packs up.

[SSridhar]

India, Japan, U.S. plan to push ties to next level

India, the U.S. and Japan are set to raise their trilateral engagement to the ministerial level, with a meeting of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry planned on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. Officials of the three countries meet twice a year, but the elevation of the engagement to the political level will mark a new beginning in the cooperation, with potential implications for the Indian Ocean region.

The ministerial meeting will fulfil a promise made in the India-U.S. joint statement of September 30, 2014, after a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama.

“Noting India’s ‘Act East’ policy and the United States’ rebalance to Asia, the leaders committed to work more closely with other Asia Pacific countries through consultations, dialogues and joint exercises. They underlined the importance of their trilateral dialogue with Japan and decided to explore holding this dialogue among their Foreign Ministers,” the joint statement had said.

Ms. Swaraj, who is in the U.S. capital on September 21 and 22, will return to New Delhi owing to personal reasons and will come back to New York for the annual general debate at the U.N. General Assembly between September 28 and October 3, according to current plans. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in the U.S. from September 23 to 29.

While India under Mr. Modi has taken bolder steps towards multilateralism in strategic ties, compared with the previous regimes, New Delhi still remains guarded in its approach. This is apparent in India’s cold response to a recent U.S. proposal that Australia too take part in the Malabar naval exercise that will have Indian, Japanese and U.S. fleets in joint action in mid-October. Though this exercise has been taking place regularly, it is the first time after 2007 that the Malabar comes to Indian waters. In 2007, the joint exercise had stirred up a political controversy in India and provoked sharp reactions from China, prompting the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to clarify that it was not aimed at China in anyway. Japan and the U.S., too, have been categorical that their cooperation has nothing to do with China.

While defence ties are on the rise between countries, India is still doubtful about the desirability of Australia’s participation in the joint exercise.

A diplomatic source, however, downplayed the possibility of the decision being influenced by Chinese concerns.

“When a joint exercise has too many participating countries, the intensity of the cooperation is brought down to the lowest common levels. That may defeat the very purpose of the exercise,” said the source, who did not want to be named.

[sanjaykumar]

Is that like saying that Australia is not in the same league?

[kit]

Is that like saying that Australia is not in the same league?

Australia yet to prove its worth as a potential strategic partner to India

[sum]

While defence ties are on the rise between countries, India is still doubtful about the desirability of Australia’s participation in the joint exercise.

“When a joint exercise has too many participating countries, the intensity of the cooperation is brought down to the lowest common levels. That may defeat the very purpose of the exercise,” said the source, who did not want to be named.

Pretty clearly spelt out who is the "lowest common level"

[chaanakya]

India's alliance with Japan for UNSC berth a mistake: Chinese media

Liu said “India's biggest mistake is to ally itself with Japan, Germany and Brazil”. The article added: “First of all, these three countries have opponents in the region. Japan's bid for permanent membership will definitely invite strong opposition from China and South Korea.”

[kit]

While defence ties are on the rise between countries, India is still doubtful about the desirability of Australia’s participation in the joint exercise.

“When a joint exercise has too many participating countries, the intensity of the cooperation is brought down to the lowest common levels. That may defeat the very purpose of the exercise,” said the source, who did not want to be named.

Pretty clearly spelt out who is the "lowest common level"

.. ha ! .. India is still not very comfy with the aussies except maybe with cricket

[SSridhar]

India's alliance with Japan for UNSC berth a mistake: Chinese media

Liu said “India's biggest mistake is to ally itself with Japan, Germany and Brazil”. The article added: “First of all, these three countries have opponents in the region. Japan's bid for permanent membership will definitely invite strong opposition from China and South Korea.”

China is trying to act 'clever by half' here. It has been trying to drive a wedge between India and Japan for some time now.

[Prem]

http://asia.nikkei.com/Viewpoints/Geopo ... sform-Asia
New Japan-India alliance will transform Asia
( long article)

It hasn't made much headline news, but the fact that India is now finally set to buy 15 US-2 seaplanes from Japan marks a significant breakthrough in Japan-India relations. It also is a harbinger of how growing India-Japan ties will transform Asia in the 21st century, and how other countries -- including China and the United States -- are going to have to catch up with this new geopolitical reality. The prospective seaplane sale has been almost four years in the making, and many of the details -- for example, how much Japan and ShinMaywa Industries, builder of the US-2, will allow Indian companies to join in the aircraft's coproduction -- are currently being negotiated. Still, it will represent Japan's first overseas sales of defense items since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe eased Japan's defense export ban last year. Similar to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Japan last autumn, it also sends a loud and clear message that a new strategic alliance is coming between Asia's two most important democracies. India and Japan are of course the two biggest economies in Asia after China, and trade between them has been a staple of both economies for decades. But current trends are now pushing these two Asian economic giants together -- trends that not only include the rise of China, but growing doubts about America's strategic and military commitment to the region despite President Obama's assurances about a "Pacific pivot" and "an Asian rebalance." The new India-Japan partnership isn't just about strategy and geopolitics. Economic calculations play their part as well. Prime Minister Modi, for example, clearly sees Japanese direct investment in India as an important component of his plan to get India's sluggish economy moving again. The number of Japanese companies operating in India has skyrocketed, from 267 in 2006 to over 1,800 in 2013 -- a sixfold jump in just seven years. Indeed, Prime Minister Abe's hopes of pushing Japan through its current economic doldrums have to include expanding export opportunities to India's population of more than 1 billion.But above all, Abe and Japan are looking for a strong reliable partner to counterbalance the rise of an aggressive, militarized China. India is the perfect candidate. Both Japan and India have contentious territorial disputes with Beijing; both have watched China's decade of double-digit increases in military spending, from ballistic missiles to aircraft carriers and stealth fighters, with alarm. Both also correctly see China's new expansionist economic strategies, such as the Silk Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, as neomercantilist moves aimed at displacing Japan and India as trade rivals in Asia and the Middle East. If Japan wants an Indian ally, it may have found the man it's been waiting for in Narendra Modi. As prime minister, Modi has shown a willingness to pursue a closer relationship with Japan without being concerned about "optics," that is, how it looks from Beijing -- even though India-China economic relations remain closer than Japan might like. For example, India is a member of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, while Japan is not.
On the other hand, it was New Delhi, not Washington or Tokyo, that suggested including Japan in this year's annual India-U.S. joint naval war games, known as the Malabar Exercises, something that Japan's Self-Defense Forces have wanted to join for years. Japan has participated before; but this will be only the second time Japan will join the Malabar maneuvers in the Indian Ocean, India's maritime backyard. Modi's government made the invitation without worrying whether it might "offend" China even though Beijing did take offense when the U.S. and India invited Japan plus Australia to join the exercises back in 2007, and managed to get New Delhi to call off the "quadrilateral exercisesPart of the shift in India's policy has to do with the fact that, despite the need to maintain cordial relations with Beijing, Modi and Indian politicians generally have few illusions about China's ambitions in the region, which have become increasingly disruptive. China's growing economic and military footprint in Nepal, Pakistan, (where President Xi has pledged a $46 billion investment in infrastructure and energy projects), Sri Lanka (where Chinese companies helped to build a harbor at Hambantota that could be quickly converted to a naval facility), and the Seychelles have made Indians feel that China is trying to surround India, or even cut off India's access to the Indian Ocean. In addition, China's push to become the dominant naval power in the Indian Ocean poses a distinct challenge to India's assumption that its navy would be "ruling the waves" in the region after the British Navy's decline as a strategic presence. It's an opportunity the Abe administration is not likely to miss: building the strategic alliance with India is one of the keystones of his entire revamping of Japan's defense policy. Indeed, Japan's 2013 National Security Strategy as well as its National Defense Program Guidelines both mandate increased cooperation with India, including at sea. The guidelines state: "Japan will strengthen its relationship with India in a broad range of fields, including maritime security, through joint training and exercises as well as joint implementation of international peace cooperation activities."

Japan also has a "Security Cooperation Agreement" with India -- an agreement it previously had with only two other countries, the U.S. and Australia -- and in June 2012, the Indian and Japanese navies conducted their first ever Japan-India Maritime Exercise in the Sea of Japan, which they repeated in 2014 in the Bay of Bengal.This move toward closer strategic and military cooperation with India is especially important because the Obama administration continually drags its heels whenever it's asked to be Japan's forthright supporter in defending the Senkaku Islands, which China also claims, from Chinese aggression, including military action if necessary. Since World War II, the U.S., especially the U.S. Navy, has been the principal guarantor of security and stability around the Pacific Rim. Since 2011, India and Japan also participated in a trilateral strategic dialogue with Washington, at the Obama administration's suggestion. Yet talk to Indian or Japanese officials, and one gets the impression that the consensus in both New Delhi and Tokyo is that the Obama "Asian rebalance" is largely talk without action -- and that if push comes to shove in dealing with China in territorial disputes, whether it's over the Senkaku Islands or over the stretch of the India-China border between Jammu and Kashmir, Japan and India may find a stronger partner in each other, than the U.S. promises to be in the future. A new American president may change that perception, since the American impression of China is changing -- as is its view of Japan and India. Truth be told, the U.S. is finally waking up to the fact that the decades of time and effort it invested in trying to cultivate a relationship of constructive engagement with China may have been largely wasted, and that America's best partners in Asia are precisely the ones it took for granted or even overlooked: namely the continent's two biggest democracies, India and Japan. Indeed, the stronger Japanese and Indian ties grow in the meantime, the more the U.S. will come to see the value in joining both countries in a new geopolitical balance for Asia, both for now and in the future. As for Japan, ties with India are probably not growing as fast the Abe administration would like. Japan hopes for more "2 plus 2" dialogues between both country's defense and foreign ministers, something the Modi government has resisted -- although the prime ministers of both countries do have an agreement to meet at least once every year, an arrangement no two other Asian countries have. As Indians themselves like to say, "Elephants never make sharp turns." But when they do turn, it's well worth the wait.

[Viv S]

^ +1

Let me just repost an excerpt from that. Deserves to be recorded and viewed separately. Provides a valuable insight into the current govt's strategic thought.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the other hand, it was New Delhi, not Washington or Tokyo, that suggested including Japan in this year's annual India-U.S. joint naval war games, known as the Malabar Exercises, something that Japan's Self-Defense Forces have wanted to join for years. Japan has participated before; but this will be only the second time Japan will join the Malabar maneuvers in the Indian Ocean, India's maritime backyard. Modi's government made the invitation without worrying whether it might "offend" China even though Beijing did take offense when the U.S. and India invited Japan plus Australia to join the exercises back in 2007, and managed to get New Delhi to call off the "quadrilateral exercises

[MurthyB]

Slightly OT, but looks like some Japanese nationalists don't much like their humanities either, leading to this rather drastic response:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/ne ... ial-decree

*From:* Smith, Andrew <A.D.Smith at liverpool.ac.uk
<mailto:A.D.Smith at liverpool.ac.uk>>
*Date:* Monday, 21 September 2015 10:57
*Subject:* future of social sciences and humanities in Japan



Dear Fellow Academics,

Japan's current education minister is intent to closing all of the
humanities, economics, law, and social science departments in the
country's public sector universities, which include University of Tokyo,
Kyoto University, and indeed most of the other elite, research-intensive
institutions. The jobs of many of our Japanese colleagues are at stake,
since most Japanese business historians work in the affected departments.

Here is a link to the /Times Higher Education Supplement/ story about
the closure of social science and humanities departments in Japan.

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/ne ... ial-decree

The specious justification for the closure of these departments is
financial cost. There may be another agenda at work. We believe that
this petition, which is addressed to both the Minister of Education and
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe may be effective since Japan's ruling party is
divided into rival factions, not all of which shares the
anti-intellectual or ultra-nationalist views of the current Minister of
Education.


Please share this important petition with all of your contacts.

https://www.change.org/p/hakuban-shimom ... m=copylink
<https://www.change.org/p/hakuban-shimom ... m=copylink>

Please note that my support for this petition reflects only my views.
The petition does not represent the views of the University of Liverpool.

Many thanks,


Andrew



Andrew Smith

Director of Studies, International Business

Lecturer in International Business, University of Liverpool Management
School.

University of Liverpool Management School, University of Liverpool

Chatham Street, Liverpool L69 7ZH, United Kingdom.

Office: GE13

* Read more or reply

<https://networks.h-net.org/node/22055/d ... s-japanese>

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[member_19686]

^^

see:

Is Japan abolishing social sciences and humanities departments?

http://avery.morrow.name/blog/2015/09/i ... partments/

[Multatuli]

Unexpected tax troubles cropping up in emerging countries

TOKYO -- Many Japanese companies operating in emerging countries are grappling with taxation problems they would never face in major industrial nations.

Honda Motor, for instance, has gotten embroiled in a dispute with Indian tax authorities over what Honda Chairman Fumihiko Ike criticized as "unreasonable double taxation."

The problem has remained uncorrected for too long, Ike lamented.

In 2011, Honda Cars India, the Japanese company's car manufacturing unit in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, received an unbelievable notice of assessment from the tax authorities.

The notice demanded that the parent company pay tax on sales related to Honda Cars India, saying the local unit performs some of the functions of the carmaker's Japanese headquarters.

The tax authorities' new assessment was over 100 billion yen ($827 million). But Honda Cars India argued that the levy represented "double taxation" because the company paid corporate taxes as a local subsidiary of the Japanese company.

Read further: http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/ ... -countries

I hope they GoI establishes a framework to solve this problem quickly, with other countries too.

[Karan M]

Some amru joker defending humanities and fulminating against the meanie Japanese govt

The humanities subvert the mediating functions of technologies and go straight to the heart, wherever it may be. They are more essential than STEM, not because the people involved are smarter or more moral, but because they are literally closer to the essence of things. They give us a chance to put aside all distractions and know the fullest possibilities of humanity in all our flaws and virtues; skills that, if properly taught, should benefit every aspect of one’s post-college life.

Yes, yes, more essential than STEM. Go to the essence of things.

[member_19686]

Hindu deities in Japan
BENOY K. BEHL

The original concept of Saraswati and her association with the natural order and good fortune are well preserved in Japan.
Most people are not aware that at least a score of Hindu deities are actively worshipped in Japan. In fact, there are hundreds of shrines to Saraswati alone. There are innumerable representations of Lakshmi, Indra, Brahma, Ganesha, Garuda and other deities. In fact, deities that have practically been forgotten in India, such as Vayu and Varuna, are still worshipped in Japan.

Yasukuni Enoki, former Ambassador of Japan in India, says: “As I come from the Japanese ‘Lakshmi Town’, it is no great surprise to find that Japanese life is full of so many Hindu deities. Since these Hindu deities were introduced into Japan through China, with Chinese names, Japanese people are unaware of their origins.”

One of the most revered deities of Japan is Saraswati. There are scores of shrines built to her. There are two kinds of Saraswati, or Benzaiten, in Japan. One is the eight-armed Saraswati and the other is the two-armed one. In her two-armed form, she has a musical instrument in her hand, which is called veena, or biwa in Japanese.

In many ways, the original concept of Saraswati and her association with the natural order and good fortune are well preserved in Japan. She is often visualised as a sacred body of water. In Japan, one finds the continuance of many early ideas of Indian philosophy.

I did the research for and took most of the photographs used in this feature in spring 2015 with the support of a Japan Foundation Fellowship. I am deeply grateful for this valuable support which was provided. I have also made a film for the Ministry of External Affairs on the subject “Hindu Deities Worshipped in Japan”. My partner Sujata Chatterji is the assistant director of the film.

Benoy K Behl is a film-maker, art historian and photographer who is known for his tireless and prolific output of work over the past 36 years. He has taken over 46,000 photographs of Asian monuments and art heritage and made 132 documentaries on art and cultural history. His exhibitions have been warmly received in 54 countries around the world and he holds the record, in the Limca Book of Records, for being the most travelled photographer.

The vastness of Behl’s documentation presents a wide and new perspective in understanding the art and culture of India and of Asia. He has been invited to lecture by most of the important universities and museums around the world that have departments of Asian art. His landmark book “The Ajanta Caves” is published by Thames & Hudson, London, and Harry N. Abrams, New York. It is in its fifth print run.

http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-cultur ... 654825.ece

Syllables for gods

BENOY K. BEHL

Sanskrit was the basis for the formation of the Japanese alphabet “Kana”, and many words in the Japanese language are from Sanskrit.

In many ways, Japan has preserved ancient Indian traditions, even when they may have changed in India. The 6th century Siddham script is preserved in Japan though it is not used in India. The “Beejaksharas” (seed syllables) of Sanskrit in this script are regarded as holy and are given great importance. Each deity has a Beejakshara, and these are venerated by the people even though most of them cannot read them. In fact, Beejaksharas are found in almost all Japanese homes. The Siddham script is also found at Japanese tombs, to respect the souls of the dead.

Many words in the Japanese language are from Sanskrit. Sanskrit was also the basis for the formation of the Japanese alphabet “Kana”.

In supermarkets, a major brand of milk products is branded “Sujata”. The company personnel are taught the story of Sujata, who gave sweet rice milk to the Buddha when he broke his period of austerity before he gained Enlightenment.

In the words of Yasukuni Enoki, former Ambassador of Japan: “More than 80 per cent of Japanese gods are originally Indian. Most of the Japanese don’t know this because these gods reached Japan with Chinese names.”

There are deep meanings in Japanese practices, which take us back to early developments of philosophy in India. In many ways, the philosophic understanding is most well preserved in Japan. Japan has not had the breakdown of cultural norms that India suffered when a colonial education system was created. Therefore, most Indians learnt about their own culture from the Western point of view. The dominant and admired language was English, and it remains so to this day. Obviously, all books and education in schools and universities in India are rooted in the English vision.

I did the research for and took most of the photographs used in this feature in spring 2015 with the support of a Japan Foundation Fellowship. I am deeply grateful for this valuable support.

I have also made a film for the Ministry of External Affairs on the subject of “Hindu Deities Worshiped in Japan”. My partner Sujata Chatterji is the assistant director of the film.

http://www.frontline.in/arts-and-cultur ... 698185.ece

Pictures can be seen at the website.

Also see:

Hindu Devas take a (silk) road trip to Japan!

http://videshisutra.com/2013/02/01/hind ... -to-japan/

[RajeshA]

Surasena ji,

could you please also repost to the above to the OIT Thread! Thanks!

[A_Gupta]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 381357.cms

CHENNAI: Navies of India, US and Japan today placed great importance on the ongoing trilateral naval exercise MALABAR-2015, with a top Japanese official describing the three countries as "indispensable partners" for regional stability.

Addressing reporters on board INS Shivalik here, senior officials of the three navies concurred that the initiative will help increase inter-operability between them against the backdrop of regional maritime peace.

[A_Gupta]

HYDERABAD: Japan's drug regulator, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency ( PMDA), is set to open an India office soon, amid concerns over an aging population and burgeoning healthcare costs in a country dominated by branded drugs.

The move is expected to help Indian generic drug manufacturers, which have been seeking to increase their presence in Japan either through exports or by forging joint ventures with partners in that country. Japan's market, the second-largest in th ..

Read more at:
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/art ... aign=cppst

[A_Gupta]

http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy ... with-India
Japan strengthens infrastructure ties with India

NEW DELHI -- Junzo Yamamoto, Japan's state minister for transport, said on Wednesday that a joint feasibility study for India's first high-speed train project between the western cities of Mumbai and Ahmedabad has been completed.
...
...
Japan International Cooperation Agency has committed a loan of 550 billion yen ($4.58 billion) for a mega railway project between New Delhi and Mumbai along the western corridor. The 1,500km line project is expected to be completed by 2019.

In addition, Japan is also supporting metro rail projects in New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai. ...

[member_19686]

インド国防相、海自の護衛艦「いずも」を見学　India's defence minister visits Japanese battleship Izumo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdh5_BCH7xo

[A_Gupta]

Kerala Tourism Makes Foray Into Japan
http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/ ... 090726.ece

Kerala Tourism has made its foray into the vast outbound tourism market of Japan, with a first-time road show in the capital Tokyo.

As many as 55 leading trade participants from the Japanese travel and tourism industry participated in the show held on October 19 at the landmark Hotel New Otani Tokyo, the venue of several G-7 summits.

[SSridhar]

Japan offers India soft loan for $15 billion bullet train in edge over China - Reuters, Economic Times

Japan has offered to finance India's first bullet train, estimated to cost $15 billion, at an interest rate of less than 1 percent, officials said, stealing a march on China, which is bidding for other projects on the world's fourth-largest network.

Tokyo was picked to assess the feasibility of building the 505-kilometre corridor linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state, and concluded it would be technically and financially viable.

The project to build and supply the route will be put out to tender, but offering finance makes Japan the clear frontrunner.

Last month China won the contract to assess the feasibility of a high-speed train between Delhi and Mumbai, a 1,200-km route estimated to cost twice as much. No loan has yet been offered.

Japan's decision to give virtually free finance for Modi's pet programme is part of its broader push back against China's involvement in infrastructure development in South Asia over the past several years.

"There are several (players) offering the high-speed technology. But technology and funding together, we only have one offer. That is the Japanese," said A. K. Mital, the chairman of the Indian Railway Board, which manages the network.

The two projects are part of a 'Diamond Qaudrilateral' of high speed trains over 10,000 km of track that India wants to set up connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. Japan has offered to meet 80 percent of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad project cost, on condition that India buys 30 percent of equipment including the coaches and locomotives from Japanese firms, officials said.

Japan's International Cooperation Agency, which led the feasibility survey, said the journey time between Mumbai and Ahmedabad would be cut to two hours from seven. The route will require 11 new tunnels including one undersea near Mumbai.

"What complicates the process is Japanese linking funding to use of their technology. There must be tech transfer," said Mital.

[member_19686]

Indian Deities Worshipped in Japan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WaenzbSJwk

Made for Ministry of External Affairs by Benoy K. Behl

[pravula]

インド国防相、海自の護衛艦「いずも」を見学　India's defence minister visits Japanese battleship Izumo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdh5_BCH7xo

"Destroyer" indeed. Wonder how many F-35s can be parked on her.

[Paul]

Japanese PM is in Dushanbe with a 50 member business delegation.

[member_19686]

The Interaction of Bengali and Japanese Artistic Milieus in the First Half of the Twentieth Century (1901–1945): Rabindranath Tagore, Arai Kanpō, and Nandalal Bose

Inaga Shigemi

International Research Center for Japanese Studies

In both India and Japan, the literature on twentieth-century art history has
been elaborated within the framework of nation-building. Japan enjoyed
independence during the first half of that century, while India endured
colonial rule. However, the difference between polities did not prevent
intellectuals from the two cultural spheres from engaging in intensive interactions.
This essay focuses on Okakura Kakuzō (Tenshin), author of
The Ideals of the East (1904), and the painters Yokoyama Taikan, Hishida
Shunsō, and Arai Kanpō. Yokoyama and Hishida were invited to India
through Okakura’s agency, and Yokoyama subsequently recommended
Arai for an expedition to India. Exploring their deeds in this essay, the
author seeks to shed new light on these figures’ relationships with Rabindranath
Tagore, Abanindranath Tagore, and Nandalal Bose. Okakura and
these Japanese painters provided technical and iconographic inspiration to
Nandalal, and as they did so they were exposed to early twentieth-century
India. Their engagement with modern India does not exclude ideological
dimensions, and the author touches on those here, as well. Fitting into a
project that has a reevaluation of Asian modernism as its ultimate objective,
this essay locates these examples of mutual influence between Japan
and Bengal within the larger context of Asian intellectual history in the
first half of the twentieth century.

http://shinku.nichibun.ac.jp/jpub/pdf/jr/JN2104.pdf

[Paul]

Shinzo Abe is now in Uzebkistan. First in Tajikistan. He is doing his homework in encircling China.

[Paul]

and Turkmenistan too.....what is going on?

Is he the stalking horse for US to activate China's land borders which as Kaplan puts it....have never been more favorably positioned to favor China.

[Paul]

Reasons Behind Abe’s Trip Across Central Asia

Column: Economics Region: Eastern Asia Country: Japan
34234324355October 22 was marked by the beginning of a five-day trip of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe across six Central Asian states. According to the Nikkei Asian Review, during his visits to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia, Abe was accompanied by 50 representatives of 50 major Japanese companies that sought opportunities to invest up 2 trillion yen (16.6 billion dollars) in the region. The contracts that were signed during the visit along with memorandums of intent to develop trade and economic cooperation with the countries of Central Asia, may bring, according to the Japanese Prime Minister, up to 30 trillion yen (250 billion dollars) in profits to the Japanese business giants until 2020.

There’s little doubt that this trip was designed to fulfill Japan’s desire to strengthen its presence in Central Asia, by obtaining access to its natural resources and countering expanding Chinese influence. The Japanese government is convinced that this step will strengthen Japan’s energy security as well, which will reduce its dependence on nuclear power.

Shinzo Abe is determined to compete in the struggle for regional markets with major international players. A particular emphasis has been put on the gas industry, in particular, the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Japanese companies and Turkmengaz, along with an agreement on the development of the Galkynysh Gas Field that will be supplying four countries – Turkmenistan Afghanistan, Pakistan and India via a pipeline that is to be constructed in the foreseeable future. Implementation of this ambitious project will make the delivery of up to 30 billion cubic meters of gas to new consumers a reality. To get the project up and running Japan is offering new technologies and considerable financial resources to Turkmenistan. Two state-owned Japanese banks have already expressed their willingness to provide 2 billion dollars for this cause.

However, Tokyo’s desire to get a more solid footing in Turkmenistan will inevitably lead to the aggravation of relations between Ashgabat and Beijing, as this Central Asian republic has already signed an agreement with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on the implementation of this project, and the contract doesn’t allow third parties entry into it. The cooperation between Turkmengaz and CNPC has already resulted in the construction of a new pipeline, linking Turkmenistan and western provinces of China. The pipeline with a full capacity of 20 billion cubic meters a year stretches across Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan.

It should be noted that Japan’s attempts to push China out of the deal are hardly accidental, since there’s the presence of strong Washingto influence behind many of Japan’s moves. It’s just enough to mention that Turkmenistan has repeatedly postponed the construction of the joint pipeline with China, allegedly due to the situation in Afghanistan. However, Turkmenistan’s position has drastically changed after the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Raşit Meredow to the United States. After this visit Ashgabat decided to hand over all the rights to Tokyo, while US military contractors took over the gas fields on the conditions that they would be allowed to use an airfield near the Turkmen-Afghan border. This airfield will be soon transformed into a military base, on the conditions that the US will handle security matters while the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India pipeline is being constructed.

Shinzo Abe’s visit to Kazakhstan was dictated by interest in the hydrocarbon and uranium resources of the republic, especially in a situation where Japan was forced to increase imports of these natural resources. Kazakhstan possesses the second largest uranium reserves in the world, therefore Japan is determined to challenge foreign companies in the area in the long term. In this context Toshiba has joined in competition against Russia’s Rosatom on the construction of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, offering the delivery of a reactor with a total capacity of 1 gigawatt at the price of 3.7 billion dollars. The construction of this nuclear plant should begin in 2018 and be completed by 2030, with the possibility of producing energy between 2023-2024.

In Uzbekistan, Japanese companies are planning to build a gas processing plant, signing an agreement on 110 billion yen (about 917 million dollars). In addition, representatives of one of the participating Japanese companies have already started negotiations on the establishment of optical communication infrastructure in the country.

While covering the visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Central Asia, the Japanese media emphasizes its “historical dimension”, as it is the first large-scale tour around the region since 2006, when a similar trip was carried out by the the leader of the Japanese government – Junichiro Koizumi. Japan has no long-term relationships established with these regional powers, therefore all the preparations for the visit were made very carefully, with even the Prime Minister’s plane custom painted to underline the importance of the trip.

There is no doubt that Tokyo is putting a particular emphasis on the development and strengthening of relations with the countries of Central Asia, however the head of the Japanese government must ask himself what are the consequences of this trip and will it lead to the further aggravation of Japan’s relations with a number of other regional players, especially China.

Valeriy Kulikov, expert politologist, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.
First appeared: http://journal-neo.org/2015/10/26/reaso ... tral-asia/

[Bhurishrava]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/new ... 548717.cms

Japan government overturns Okinawa's ban on US base relocation work.

[schinnas]

Some amru joker defending humanities and fulminating against the meanie Japanese govt

The humanities subvert the mediating functions of technologies and go straight to the heart, wherever it may be. They are more essential than STEM, not because the people involved are smarter or more moral, but because they are literally closer to the essence of things. They give us a chance to put aside all distractions and know the fullest possibilities of humanity in all our flaws and virtues; skills that, if properly taught, should benefit every aspect of one’s post-college life.

Yes, yes, more essential than STEM. Go to the essence of things.