Puranik Yogendra, a 41-year-old Indian-origin Japanese, also fondly called as ‘Yogi’, hails from Pune, India. He has been elected to Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward assembly, becoming the first Indian to win an election in Japan.
On April 21, a poll has been conducted as a part of unified local elections held across Japan and Yogi secured a whopping 6,477 votes, the fifth highest of the 226,561 valid ballots cast. ‘I want to be a bridge between Japanese and foreigners,’ said Yogi, who was backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.
With more than 34,000 Indians residing in Japan, Edogawa Ward has the highest number of Indian residents among Tokyo’s 23 wards with nearly 4,300 Indians. The Edogawa Ward also has a large number of Chinese and Koreans.
Yogi first came to Japan in 1997 who was a university student in India. ‘This is the first-ever victory of a naturalised Japanese of Indian origin in elections in Japan. This is also a recognition of contributions made by Indians towards the Japanese society,’ Shamshad Khan, the author of Changing Dynamics of India-Japan Relations, said.
Yogi’s manifesto promises to take care of bringing in more creche’ for babies, helping non-local kids get into government schools and vocational training of breastfeeding mothers.