Rising India and Indian Communities in East Asia

15. Indians in Tokyo and its Vicinity

255 15 INDIANS IN TOKYO AND ITS VICINITY Masako Azuma INTRODUCTION “Rising฀India”฀paints฀a฀country฀of฀more฀than฀one฀billion฀people,฀with฀rapid฀ economic฀development,฀and฀well-known฀for฀IT฀and฀biotechnology.฀Many฀ IT฀engineers฀have฀moved฀from฀India฀to฀other฀countries฀including฀Japan.฀ In฀Japan฀Indians฀who฀work฀in฀IT฀industry฀have฀increased฀since฀1990s฀and฀ many฀of฀them฀tend฀to฀stay฀on.฀They฀are฀the฀embodiment฀of฀“rising฀India”฀ in฀a฀globalizing฀world. However,฀during฀the฀author’s฀interaction฀with฀them฀for฀this฀research,฀ some฀aspects฀were฀noticed,฀which฀cannot฀be฀explained฀with฀“rising฀India”.฀ They฀ maintained฀ their฀ own฀ religious฀ practices,฀ connection฀ with฀ their฀ home฀town/village,฀meals,฀and฀dress฀in฀Japan.฀They฀have฀formed฀their฀own฀ community,฀which฀help฀them฀keep฀their฀own฀lifestyle฀and฀identity.฀Members฀ of฀the฀community฀are฀not฀only฀IT฀engineers,฀but฀also฀workers฀at฀farms,฀ factories,฀and฀restaurants.฀ The฀term฀“rising฀India”฀is฀a฀reminder฀that฀India฀is฀in฀the฀process฀of฀ becoming฀an฀advanced฀country.฀Yet,฀that฀represents฀only฀a฀certain฀part฀of฀ India฀or฀Indians.฀From฀the฀life฀of฀people฀coming฀from฀India฀to฀Japan,฀we฀ can฀find฀other฀characteristics฀of฀Indians. This฀chapter฀focuses฀on฀their฀communities฀in฀Tokyo.฀Descriptions฀about฀ them฀are฀based฀on฀interviews฀and฀participant฀observations฀of฀some฀aspects฀ of฀their฀life.฀The฀subject฀of฀South฀Asian฀diaspora฀is฀closely฀related฀to฀“rising฀ India”.฀Shukla฀(2001)฀has฀noted฀that฀the฀term฀“South฀Asia”฀faces฀problematic฀ 15฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀255 8/21/08฀฀฀11:54:51฀AM 256 Masako Azuma duality฀consisting฀of฀global฀and฀local,฀nation฀and฀transnational฀community.฀ These฀topics฀connect฀with฀the฀complexity฀of฀the฀South฀Asian฀diaspora,฀ consisting฀of฀differences฀in฀religion,฀background฀of฀migration,฀and฀experience฀ of฀social฀life฀(Shukla฀2001).฀In฀Japan,฀too,฀people฀from฀India฀and฀the฀other฀ countries฀of฀South฀Asia฀experience฀the฀same฀situation.฀We฀can฀see฀multiple฀ formations฀of฀their฀communities,฀which฀derive฀from฀their฀complexity.฀The฀ category฀“South฀Asia”฀gives฀us฀opportunity฀to฀think฀about฀the฀other฀aspects฀ of฀“rising฀India”. Figures฀15.1฀and฀15.2฀show฀the฀recent฀increase฀of฀Indians฀in฀Japan.฀Since฀ the฀1990s,฀the฀number฀of฀Indians฀living฀in฀Japan฀has฀been฀rapidly฀increasing฀ (Figure฀15.1).฀In฀the฀prefectural฀change฀of฀the฀Indian฀population,฀almost฀ every฀prefecture฀shows฀growth.฀Especially฀in฀Tokyo฀and฀its฀vicinity,฀this฀trend฀ is฀all฀the฀more฀apparent.฀The฀industrial฀midland฀areas฀also฀display฀similar฀ tendencies฀(Figure฀15.2). Hyogo฀Prefecture,฀especially฀Kobe฀city,฀was฀well฀known฀for฀having฀ the฀largest฀community฀of฀Indian฀immigrants฀prior฀to฀1990.฀While฀their฀ community฀maintained฀a฀certain฀scale฀of฀population฀in฀Hyogo,฀the฀number฀ of฀Indian฀residents฀in฀Tokyo฀has฀been฀increasing฀sharply฀since฀1990. Why฀do฀many฀Indians฀go฀to฀Tokyo?฀The฀possible฀reasons฀behind฀this฀ trend฀are฀explored฀in฀sections฀2฀and฀3.฀In฀the฀following฀two฀sections,฀their฀ social฀life฀and฀their฀position฀in฀Japanese฀society฀will฀be฀discussed.฀Lastly,฀the฀ chapter฀will฀touch฀on฀“rising฀India”. Figure 15.1 Indian Population in Japan Source:฀Statistics฀on฀the฀Foreigners฀Registered฀in฀Japan,฀1986–99฀editions,฀by฀Ministry฀of฀ Justice,฀Japan,฀and฀1989–2006฀editions,฀by฀Japan฀Immigration฀Association. 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 year 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 population population 15฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀256 8/21/08฀฀฀11:54:53฀AM Indians in Tokyo and Its Vicinity 257 Figure 15.2 Distribution of Indians by Region, Japan Source:฀Statistics฀on฀the฀Foreigners฀Registered฀in฀Japan,฀1986–99฀editions,฀by฀Ministry฀of฀Justice,฀Japan,฀and฀1989–2006฀editions,฀by฀Japan฀ Immigration฀Association. Other Hyogo Midland Tokyo 0 2,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000 16,000 18,000 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Year Population 15฀Rising฀India.indd฀฀฀257 8/21/08฀฀฀11:54:54฀AM 258 Masako Azuma THE NEW INFLUX OF INDIANS AND THEIR COMPOSITION There฀are฀two฀distinct฀features฀of฀Indians฀living฀in฀Tokyo฀and฀its฀vicinity.฀ First,฀the฀majority฀of฀them฀are฀in฀their฀mid-twenties฀to฀early฀forties฀in฀age.฀ Females฀are฀mainly฀in฀their฀early฀twenties฀to฀the฀early฀thirties.฀Children฀ under฀the฀age฀of฀five฀have฀also฀been฀increasing.฀This฀indicates฀Indian฀family฀ migration฀to฀Japan. The฀second฀feature฀has฀to฀do฀with฀a฀rapid฀increase฀of฀the฀newcomers.฀One฀ of฀the฀characteristics฀of฀Indian฀newcomers฀is฀that฀they฀are฀comparatively฀low...