Our heritage
A friendship twelve centuries in the making
Long before the first office or factory, India and Japan were already building things together. A few of the moments that shaped this bridge.
752
An Indian monk opens the eyes of the Great Buddha
Bodhisena, a monk from India, was invited to Nara to perform the eye-opening ceremony of Japan’s Great Buddha at Tōdai-ji — the rite that brought the statue to life. Our cultures have shared the sacred ever since.
1916
Tagore finds a kindred spirit in Japan
The poet Rabindranath Tagore made the first of several visits to Japan, drawn to its art and quiet discipline, and formed lasting friendships with Japanese artists and thinkers.
1949
An elephant named Indira
When the children of war-weary Tokyo had no elephant to visit, India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, sent them one and named her Indira. A whole generation grew up loving a gift from across the sea.
1980s — today
Kaizen crosses the ocean
Japanese craft and the discipline of Kaizen reached India’s factory floors — from Maruti Suzuki’s first cars to the Delhi Metro — while Indian talent and ideas flowed back to Japan. Improvement became a shared language.