FOOD / MUSIC/ DANCE SPECIAL....... Manga meets MANGAI

FOOD MUSIC DANCE Manga meets MANGAI





Food, Music, Dance -South India's Essence Is Finding Takers Among The Japanese

Rinko Nagami's love affair with India began way before she met her Malayali husband. A visit to the country in 1985 had her hooked. Since then, the manga artist has been an ambassador of south Indian culture and cuisine in Japan, bringing out books on the country that fascinates her.

Nagami's latest manga, `Rinko Nagami's South India is so delicious!' hit the stands in Tokyo on March 9, 2015. “I wanted to draw the attention of Japanese people to south Indian food,“ says Nagami, whose husband Koodathodi Chami has been running a south Indian restaurant, Kerala Bhavan, in Tokyo since 2004.

Over the years, the number of Japanese coming down to south India -Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Puducherry -has gone up. “In 2014, the numbers touched 1,019 for south India and 836 for Tamil Nadu,“ says Deputy Consul-General Koji Sugiyama.

According to him, a majority of Japanese come down on business and stay for two to three years. “As on 2014, there are 1, 209 Japanese companies in India, with 225 in TN,“ he says. “The Japanese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (JCCI) in Chennai celebrated its 10th anniversary in February 2015. Ten years ago, there were only 24 Japanese companies which were members of JCCI but in 2014, there were 180.“

With an increasing number of Japanese coming down, and a common love for rice and Rajinikanth, there is a growing interest in south Indian culture and cuisine in Japan. “South Indian and Japanese culture may be very different in many ways but there are also interesting similarities. For instance, we have a festival called Dondo-yaki which is akin to Bhogi, the day preceding Thai Pongal in Tamil Nadu. In the mid dle of January , we also burn old things and cook rice porridge with Japanese dal, like Pongal. During another festival, Hinamatsuri, usually celebrated by girls, people display dolls at home just like you have kolu during Navarathri in south India,“ says Shinji Kashima, who along with artist Hiroyoshi Takeda, call themselves Masalawala, and specialise in dishing out south Indi an meals to the Japanese.

Recently , the duo, along with photographer-writer Akira Io and his wife Haruna brought out `Visual Guide of South Indian Culture', a Japanese book that covers cooking, cinema, performing arts and rituals, wherein they introduce Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam, Kathakali, Pongal, and Jallikattu to Japanese readers through their point of view.

“The basic concept was in my brain for a long time. I had written a small book on Carnatic music with chief editor of Sruti magazine V Ramnarayan. After my return to Japan, I wanted to do a similar visual guide of south Indian culture,“ says Akira. The work was distributed, with Akira and Haruna writing about music, dance and handicraft, while Masalawala wrote about cuisine and cinema. The book was released in October last year. “Previously, only naan and curry were known to the Japanese. But recently south Indian cuisine is getting featured in Japanese media and exclusive restaurants have emerged in metropolitan areas such as Tokyo,“ says Hiroyoshi. “Also, many Japanese are now leaning Car natic music, classical dances such as Bharatanatyam, Ku chipudi, and Mohiniyattam as well as Ayurveda.“

Rajinikanth's `Muthu' a n d l a t e r ` E n t h i r a n' spurred a renewed inter est in Tamil cinema. In fact, Masalawala will soon appear in the 3D film `Jumbulingam' as crazy Rajini fans.

For Kaoru Katori, it was the strong urge to introduce the range of south Indian cuisine that drove her to collaborate with Chennai-based Akemi Yoshii to work on `South Indian Homestyle Curries & Spice Dishes'. “It's a pity that many people in Japan have not yet known those fascinating South Indian cuisine. I feel frustrated that most Indian restaurants in Japan are tandoori restaurants. And I know many people -though still a minority in Japan -are aspiring to cook south Indian dishes that they have come to love,“ says Kaoru, who has been running Kitchen Studio Paisley Culinary School in Tokyo since 1992 and has published many cookbooks.

She started her research for the book in 1995. “I have tried to illustrate the distinctive characteristics of each south Indian state through the recipes I chose,“ says Kaoru, whose book will be released in July .

All of them do extensive research. Kaoru learned recipes not only from Hindus but also from Muslim and Christian families.Akemi, who is married to Purushotham, a Tamilian, did the coordination for Kaoru's research on South Indian cuisine. “We did field work in Chennai, Hyderabad, and the Chettinad region.And I have overseen the section on Tamil cuisine,“ she says.

Rinko spent three months on research. “I interviewed my husband, Kaoru Katori and Masalawala, among others. I also wrote down my memories of the food my husband's family in Kerala cooked for me,“ she says.

Since these books have a niche market, some of them do find it difficult to get publishers. But that is also slowly changing. “ After I got married to an Indian, I published several works that introduce India to my Japanese readers,“ says Rinko. “The publishing company that I worked with first contacted me about the book on south Indian cuisine as the editor, Kawamura, is a great fan of my previous works.“

Priya Menon

TOI20APR15