India-Japan Relations History and prospects in the 21st Century
The links of knowledge so established, were nurtured over the centuries through contacts between scholars and pilgrims like Kobodaishi,who interacted with their
Indian counterparts in China and in Nalanda university in India.
Even during the 260 years of isolation during the Tokugawa shogunate which ended in 1868,links of trade between India and Japan remained, thanks to the Dutch who
were the sole Westerners allowed to live in Dejima near Nagasaki in Southern Japan.It was the Dutch who carried Indian Textiles and handicrafts to Japan and bring
lacquer,ceramics and silk from Japan.
After the Meiji Restoration in 1868, direct links between India and Japan were restored.Scholars like the art historian OkakuraTenshin and his followers Yokoyama
Taikan, Arai Kanpou and AkinoFuki established abiding ties with India and specially withShantiniketan. In return Rabindranath Tagore the poet and philosopher
travelled to Japan and interacted with universities and artists.Swami Vivekananda in 1893 came to Japan and took with him a leading Buddhist divine, the head of
Enkakau temple in Kamakura to Chicago, to attend the World Congress of Religions.
At the political level the Russo- Japanese war of 1905 had a profound impact on India’s national movement with leaders like Tilak inspired by the Japanese example
demanding direct action against the British ,arrayed against men like Gokhale and later Gandhi and Nehru, who preferred a peaceful non-violent approach. Tilak’s
admirers like Rash Behari Bose actually fled to Japan and sought refuge there in the 20s. During the 2nd World War men like Subhas Chandra Bose sought and obtained
Japanese assistance to build the Indian National Army composed of POWs captured by Japanese forces in south east Asia.
Trade between India and Japan received some impetus with the establishment of the Japan India Association in 1903. Distinguished Japanese leaders like Okuma
Shigenobu and Shibusawa Eiichi led this body and enhanced trade with British India. In 1939 India was Japan’s 3rd largest trade partner after the USA and China. Today
China has surpassed the USA to become Japan’s largest trade partner as indeed it is India’s largest trade partner.
After the war India loomed large on the Japanese consciousness because of certain importantfactors.In 1949, Nehru ,moved by the destruction of Tokyo and other cities,
presented a baby elephant called Indira to Ueno Zoo. Indira travelled all over Japan bringing joy to Japanese children and their parents, who suffering from serious
shortages of food medicine and shelter.In 1952, when the US occupation of Japan ended, the dissenting judgement of the Indian judge on the Tokyo international war
crimes tribunal, RadhaBenod Pal was made known to the Japanese public. Even though the tribunal ended its work in 1949, the views of Pal were not known because of
strict censorship. ShimonakaYasaburo the President of Heibonsha , a leading publishing company printed Pal’s dissenting judgement in which he found Japan’s war time
leaders”Not Guilty” , in extensoand titled it as “Truth from the East”.Nehru also tried to re establish the steel industry of Japan by permitting the free export of iron ore
from India.
About the Author
Prof. Aftab Seth
Former Ambassador, Greece, Vietnam
Date of birth: 17.09.1943
Place of birth: Patna, Bihar, India
Education
• Certificate of enrollment with distinction in the Japanese Language and History, Keio University, Japan, 1963.
• B.A. (Hons) in History from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, 1964. First Class and ranking first in the
University in the merit list.
• M.A. in History and Politics, Constitutional History from Christ Church College, Oxford University, 1967.
• Rhodes Scholar from India, 1965, at Oxford University.
• Doctorate of Laws, 1993, American College of Greece, Athens.
• Honorary President of “English Speaking Union of Japan”
• Honorary Patron of “Tokyo International Players” (Amateur Dramatic Club)
…………
Korean History -Japanese Occupation Period
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