This travelogue, by Mamta Kalia, is a description of the author’* trip to Japan, to attend an International Hindi conference in Tokyo University.
In Tokyo, there is an Indian restaurant named ‘Calcutta’. The walls of this restaurant are decorated with Indian art forms and symbols. First, one is served hot water to drink. The word for drinking’ in ****, is ‘mizu’. Maintaining decorum and being polite is very important in **** culture. In the train stations of Japan, everything has to be done in the blink of an eye. **** passengers do not engage in jostling or moving disorderly. Unlike in India, in Japan, there are no seats reserved for either woman, old people, or the physically challenged.
The delegation visited the library of TUFS (Tokyo University of Foreign Language Studies). This is a four-storey building and on every storey, there is a reading hall. The library had 6,18,615 books. These books could be accessed from cupboards by pressing an electrically operated button. When the button was pressed again, the cupboard would close automatically. This arrangement not only saved space but also protected the books. There was sufficient space to stand in front of the cupboards. An alarm would be heard as soon as one came out of the library. The object of this alarm was to ascertain that no book was carried away by the visitor. The members of the Indian delegation saw many rare books in the Indological section.
The New Trunk Line in Japan is also referred to as the Bullet train. This train can run at speeds up to 170 kilometres per hour. The train has 16 compartments and can hold 1300 passengers. There are 66 tunnels between Tokyo and Osaka through which this train passes.
In ****, a fort is called ‘Jo’, while a temple is called ‘ji’. In 1585, Emperor Toyotomi Hideyoshi constructed the fort at Osaka. The fort is surrounded by steep cliffs and a deep moat on all sides. At the entrance, there is a huge door. This fort is a testament to the struggles of the ****.
There is a renowned temple located in Nara, called Todai-Ji, which was built in 743 A.D. The temple is dedicated to Gautama Buddha (Daibutsu). There is a 55 feet tall bronze idol of Buddha. Dark and brown wood has been used to build it. There is a deer park attached to Todai-Ji. The path that leads from the temple to the deer forest is full of beautiful sights of pristine nature. From atop tall mountains, one can look at the town of Nara.
The International Hindi Conference was attended by Hindi scholars from the world over. What was special was that in Japan there is a very big congregation of Hindi scholars who are well versed with Indian Hindi literature.
In the conference, many books were released to the public, and many well-known scholars were bestowed with honours. One can know the **** love for Hindi if one attends the conference. The conference is a precursor for universal brotherhood. Since most of Japan follows Buddhism, the customs and traditions of Japan seem to resemble Indian customs and traditions. We must learn how to love our mother ** and how to be patriotic from the ****.
