Probir Bikash Sarker
In 1916, Rabindranath Tagore first visited Japan. 2016 was the centenary of that trip. But there was not much discussion on the issue in Japan or India. It can be said that the year has passed in a kind of silence.
Rabindranath’s first visit to Japan was a historic and important event not only in his life but also in India and in Asia. It is also deeply significant. Why is it significant? I don’t know that this issue has been discussed at all. The main reason for not discussing it is that the history of “Tagore-Japan relations” still seems to be unknown.
It is no exaggeration to say that Bengalis and Indians are almost unknown about the five times that Rabindranath Tagore traveled to Japan and was greatly influenced by. On the other
hand, the names of many Japanese who have been deeply influenced by his literature, painting, music, education, philosophy, patriotism, nationalism, naturalism, child education, religious thought, cosmopolitanism is also almost unknown. It can say that no other nation in the world has done so many works on Tagore in the past century as the Japanese have done. What are the actual reasons for this rare devotion that should be seriously researched?
It is my firm belief that two far-reaching significant events took place during Rabindranath’s first visit which laid the foundation for “Tagore-Japan relations” and “India-Japan bilateral relations.” The first incident is his acquaintance and closeness with a female university student named Wada Tomiko. In the second case, in 1915, the Indian revolutionary Rash Behari Bose, under the pseudonym PN Tagore (PriyaNath Tagore), fled to Japan and took refuge.
Relationship between Rabindranath and Tomi Koura:
Born in 1896, Tomiko Wada had been a devotee of Rabindranath Tagore since 1916 and did not forget Gurudev until her death. She met the most revered Gurudev a total of six times. Four times in Japan, once in America and once in Shantiniketan, India. She graduated from Japan Women’s University and earned her Ph.D.degree from Columbia University in the United States in 1922 by researching the “Experimental Study of Hunger in its Relation to Activities.” Her name was later changed to Tomiko Koura for marital reasons. Her husband was also a renowned psychiatrist and psychological writer Dr.Takehisa Koura (1899-1996). However, she is known in Japan as Tomi Koura but not much nowadays.
Japan’s first psychologist Dr.Tomi Koura was very proficient in English, later she became a professor at the Japan Women’s University, and a leading figure in the international women’s liberation movement, in the world peace movement, and a twice-elected member of the National Diet. Although originally a member of Minshutou or the Democratic Party, she was at the same time a communist, a pacifist, and an orientalist. In 1972, she was awarded the state’s highest recognition, the “Kun Nitou Juihoushou” or “Orders of the Sacred Treasure”, for her outstanding contributions to the country, the nation, and the international arena. She was also an honorary member of the “Imperial Rule Assistance Association” (1940-45), an influential organization.
Rabindranath Tagore’s relationship with such a large-scale personality is an exceptionally enlightening chapter in the cultural history of Japan-Bengal relations. From an interpreter, Mrs. Koura gradually became the translator of Tagore’s works and the author of books on him. She has written many research articles, essays, and memoirs on Tagore’s thoughts throughout her life. Two of these famous books are “Shintsuki, RabindoronathoTago-ru” or “New Moon, Rabindranath Tagore” (Apollonsha /1962) and “Shi to JinseiTago-ru” or “Poetry and Life of Tagore” (Apollonsha / 1967). It is unknown to me than any other foreign woman devotee who has researched and written many articles on Tagore. In this respect, no other foreign country can be compared to Tomi Koura, who is more Japanese than Tagore female enthusiasts.
She became so attached to Gurudev that she even named her new home “Shantiniketan”, according to the commentary of Professor Kazuo Azuma, a leading Japanese Tagore researcher. It is noteworthy that the well-known author Yasuko Tsuge wrote in 1983 that her love for Rabindranath was so deep that: “Tomi Koura who met Rabindranath Tagore in course of events while she was a student at the Japan Women’s University, has been moved to the left and right in a big way by his thoughts.” ……..” Listening to Tagore’s speech for the first time at the university auditorium and spending time with him at the university’s Karuizawa Learning Center in the summer of that year, made a deep sense of heartbeat within her.
She would listen carefully to every word uttered by Rabindranath and noted it. Surprisingly, even at the age of 87, the memories of that time are still vivid in her mind: for example, after reading some of his poems by Rabindranath Tagore also recited by himself to show the melody for the experience of the students. Perhaps she was shaken by the poems that should be called Tagore’s Immaculate Soul. Since then, his immense devotion to Rabindranath has remained unchanged till her death, and her personality, thoughts, and writings have been continuously introduced in Japan. In her biography, she writes that every time Rabindranath came to Japan, she was accompanied by his interpreter and went to India herself. And her current position is as president of the “Japan Tagore Association.”
“It is difficult to explain in a single sentence the thoughts of Rabindranath that influenced her at that time.” …….. “Rabindranath pointed out that war and aggression are at the center of Western nationalism, and that Japan, following it, has so far taken care of its nature and beauty and now is destroying its own traditional culture. This message Tomi Koura has been constantly presented to the Japanese people through translation into Japanese. Mrs. Koura learned to love nature from Rabindranath. He has given her oriental vision to build their own civilization by standing on their own tradition and culture to follow the way of life by uniting with nature. ”1
It is also known from the commentary of the famous poet Rumiko Koura, daughter of Tomi Koura, that “Mother did not say much about India at home but always bought Indian clothes and Tagore’s paintings as gifts. It is as if she has nurtured us in an international way.” 2
Gurudev Rabindranath, on the other hand, was so impressed by Tomi Koura’s talent and work ethic that on March 27, 1929, he wrote a poem addressed to her:
“It is not a bower made white with the bunches of Jasmine
It is waves swinging with the turbulent foam.”
During the visit to the poet in India in 1935, he extended his steps to Shantiniketan and met Gurudev. Accepted short-term hospitality. Needless to say, both the master and the disciple were overjoyed to be reunited after such a long time.
Many years have passed since then. After the great destruction and bloodbath of the 2nd World War, the world and human society have changed radically. By that time, the poet Tagore has also left this world with a book of unrest and dissatisfaction–seeing the crisis of civilization. Without seeing the desired independence of subjugated India. Tomi Koura is saddened to see this change in the world with her own eyes, watching Asia burn in the fire of violence and revenge.
Undoubtedly, during the long war from 1941-45, she spent her gloomy time remembering Gurudev. The news of the death of the poet was known in the newspapers before the war. Without overcoming the mental shock The World War II started in December, four months after Gurudev’s death.
In 1947, India achieved the adored independence of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. Like many other Tagore devotees, she was happy. After a couple of years, an unexpected opportunity came to her. Gurudev’s birthplace, West Bengal in India, hosted the “World Peace Conference” in March 1949 at the invitation of Prime Minister Nehru, and she re-entered Shantiniketan. Where she remembered Gurudev deeply. She was one of the directors of the executive council of the “Tagore Memorial Association Japan”, formed in 1958 to celebrate Rabindranath Tagore’s 100th birth anniversary. She was invited to Calcutta to celebrate the centenary of the poet’s birth and went again to India.
To commemorate the spatial memory of her first meeting with Rabindranath, a bronze bust commemorating the poet’s 120th birth anniversary was erected a Memorial statue in 1981 at the foothills of the Asama Mountains on the outskirts of the town of Karuizawa in Nagano Prefecture.
At that time she was 85 years old. She Named the statue “Jinrui Fuchen” or “Warless Mankind” in honour of Rabindranath Tagore. In this context, she wrote in her autobiography: “….. I have set up this sculpture as the president of the Tagore Association with the help of the classmates of Japan Women’s University. The alphabet Jinrui Fuchen is engraved on the chest of this sculpture. Rabindranath has appealed for a non-violent world all his life. Now we must hold fast to his word. It is not easy to prevent making money by killing people, to stop countless people trying to gain power. Greed for power is an evil force that is deeply rooted in humanity. This is not to say who or what this force is unless all human beings work together to stop this evil force. The fight for non-violence is in politics, in art, or in culture–wherever life is at stake. This fight is the fight of all mankind. ”
She did not stop herself only at erecting monuments and sculptures of the poet but also worked for the Japan-India Tagore Association formed in 1971 by his blessed renowned Tagore researcher and Tagore activist Professor Kazuo Azuma. With the interest and cooperation of Tomi Koura and several other senior Tagore-devotees, Professor Azuma completed Rabindranath’s Dream, “Japan Bhavan” (Japan faculty) with the opening as a “Nippon Bhavan” in Sriniketan, Shantiniketan in 1994. However, in the previous year 1993, this majestic Tagore devotee Tomi Koura passed away.
If she had survived, she would have attended the inauguration ceremony because Gurudev was her lifelong adored life god! It is rare to say such a woman devotee in the whole life of Rabindranath Tagore. The dream of Tagore was realized because she made great efforts, and 12 volumes of the Japanese version of the collection of Tagore’s writings were completed. I still believe that her power lies behind this long-standing exchange between Japanese and Bengali.
Relationship between Rabindranath and the revolutionary Rash Behari Bose:
The second incident is Rabindranath Tagore’s relationship with the revolutionary Rash Behari Bose. Behari Bose fled to Japan in 1915 and took refuge. Did he have a relationship with Rabindranath before he emigrated to Japan? As far as the information has been read, there is no good answer. It is known from several sources that after the assassination attempt of Lord Hardinge, the governor adopted by the revolutionary Rash Behari Bose in 1912 failed, he fled to different places for two years in India. The British government could not figure out who was the hero of this conspiracy. But two years later, in 1914, when the main plotter, Rash Behari Bose, was found guilty, an arrest warrant was issued against him with photographs. Then he decided to leave India. But how?
This year, the news through the newspapers that the newly Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore is going to Japan. He knew that several revolutionaries had already fled to Japan and taken refuge. Then he thought about this opportunity to go to Japan. He took preparation as a relative of Rabindranath under a pseudonym and left India earlier for a trip to Japan. According to that decision, he entered Japan in 1915 aboard a Japanese ship “Sanukimaru” under the pseudonym PN Tagore (Priyonath Tagore). It is thought that Rabindranath Tagore could not have imagined the far-reaching history of the news of his first visit to Japan. While Rash Behari Bose was in Dehradun, Priyonath Tagore, a relative of Rabindranath, lived there. So if he goes to Japan under this name, no one will suspect him because more than a decade ago, in 1902, Rabindranath’s close friendship and cultural ties with Japan were established in Calcutta with OkakuraTenshin, a well-known influential Japanese thinker and art historian. As a result, he did not have to cross any hurdle to enter Japan under the pseudonym of Rabindranath Tagore. He passed all the screening tests till boarding and landing.
Meanwhile, the real facts are known from the memoirs of Rash Behari Bose written by Nikki Kimura, a Japanese Buddhist scholar living in Calcutta at that time, a professor of Pali language at Calcutta University, a Bengali language scholar, and a close friend of Rabindranath. There he wrote: “….. the poet decided to visit Japan in the autumn of 1914 and requested me not to go to Japan earlier as an interpreter and to prepare for the next year.” …… “When that news was published in the newspaper, it came to the notice of Mr. Bose later. Mr. Bose, a relative of the poet, sailed for Japan on a Japanese ship named PN Tagore to prepare for his trip to Japan (I heard this later from Mr. Bose). The poet visited Japan the following year in 1916, his first visit to Japan. ”
When Rabindranath came to Japan, the revolutionary Rash Behari Bose already fled to Japan. The British government announced a reward of 12,000 rupees hanging over his head. Behari Bose and his revolutionary colleague Hermbalal Gupta, who fled to Japan shortly after him, both were ordered to leave Japan by the Japanese government in a treaty of friendship with the British signed in 1902. A similar fugitive in Japan at the time was the great revolutionary Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a Chinese nationalist leader and became later the father of the Chinese nation. He was given political asylum by guru Mitsuru Touyama. Behari Bose met Sun Yat-sen. Dr. Sun-yat after listen their description took them to his patron guru Touyama and introduced them.
Respected Mitsuru Touyama, a powerful ultra-nationalist political figure and Pan-Asianist of the time, came forward to protect them in their political situation. They hid inside an abandoned painting studio or atelier in the “Nakamuraya” building, then a well-known business enterprise in Tokyo, to protect them from police through political asylum. Did Behari Bose then introduce himself to guru Touyama as “PN Tagore?” Nothing is known about that.
Though “Nakamuraya” could not be kept hidden for long. When the police found him, he was removed from there. Thus, Behari Bose has to spend his life in hiding in many places. It is no exaggeration to say that even though Rabindranath Tagore stayed in Japan for about three months, he may not meet Behari Bose due to his flight.
Rash Behari Bose’s marriage to Toshiko Souma, the daughter of Aizou Souma, the owner of the “Nakamuraya” enterprise, was consummated in 1918 when there was no more upheaval. Even after the marriage, the newlyweds had to move to Tokyo 17 times and live in hiding. In this uncertain life, Behari Bose has worked tirelessly for the independence of his country. After his marriage, he became known as “Nakamuraya no Bousu”, or “Nakamuraya’s Bose” a popular revolutionary figure.
He was released in 1923 after acquiring Japanese citizenship. But Toshiko Bose, a 26-year-old young lady, died in 1925 of pneumonia or tuberculosis due to overwork and cold. Respecting his wife’s love, he did not remarry despite the request of his mother-in-law Kokko Souma. Rash Behari Bose was a very ethical man.
Two years after the incident, in collaboration with his father-in-law, Aizou Souma started a curry restaurant called “Indo no Mon” or “Gate of India” on the second floor of the “Nakamuraya” company. That restaurant became the center of the Indian independence struggle until the end of World War II.
It was here that other expatriate revolutionaries gathered, including Japanese supporters and influential people of various levels who were close friends of Rash Behari Bose; discussion meetings and curry events were held. The original “Indo Curry-Rice” or “Indian Curry” made by Behari Bose is still popular and legendary even today. Behari Bose, a relentless activist, fought uncompromisingly for the freedom of the motherland till the last day of his death under the umbrella of guru Mitsuru Touyama. He died on January 21, 1945, at home.
During Rabindranath’s visit to Japan, of course, the news of the escape of the revolutionary Rash Behari Basu to Japan he also must have known in India as well. Did they meet in Japan in 1916? Was he interested in meeting Behari Bose once? That information is not available. Although not seen, there is no doubt that he was satisfied to know that, an Indian native warrior who came to Japan for the independence of his motherland under the sake of Rabindranath Tagore was far ahead of the others. A proof of this realization was found during the third voyage in 1924. Higuchi Tetsuko, the daughter of Rash Behari Bose, narrates: “Rabindranath sent a letter to Rash Behari from Peking, China, before coming to Japan. While in Tokyo he sought his cooperation. After arriving in Japan as planned, he met Behari Bose. They exchanged views on Indian independence.” 5
At this time Rabindranath encouraged Rash Behari Bose to fight for the independence of his country I think. The news of this meeting reached his patron guru Touyama as well as other influential politicians and intellectuals of the time who were well-wishers of Behari Bose. They can now understand the importance of why Rash Behari Bose entered Japan as “PN Tagore.” The fact that Rash Behari Bose is an important figure in the Indian independence movement proves this more clearly to the Japanese. As a result, with the blessings of Gurudev, Behari Bose continued to work for the support and cooperation of the Japanese people with renewed vigor in Japan, in spite of government restrictions.
During this time, the poet went to the “Nakamuraya” building of Behari Bose’s father-in-law and met his family and mother-in-law.
The notable chapter of this third journey is to introduce Gurudev to Guru Mitsuru Touyama. The poet was given a lavish reception at the Ueno “Seiyouken” a Franch restaurant in Tokyo on June 12 at the initiative of guru Touyama’s secret political organization “Genyousha.” Multiple commemorative photographs of the reception bear witness to that historic event. On the occasion, looking at guru Touyama, Rabindranath expressed his deep gratitude for his great service and cooperation with the Indian revolutionaries, who had taken refuge in Japan. This reception is a very important event in the history of Japan-Bangla-India.
Not only that, but in 1929 also Rabindranath was interested in meeting guru Touyama but he could not meet him as he was on a trip to China. Rabindranath wrote a letter in which he paid tribute to Touyama for his generosity and dedication to the welfare of mankind. Thus, in 1943, Rash Behari Bose was able to cross another historic step of continuous progress with the help of influential Japanese politicians and military officials to bring the undisputed leader of the Indian independence struggle, Subhash Chandra Bose, to Japan from Germany. What happened next is a known and unknown history between the two countries.
During Rabindranath’s last visit to Japan in 1929, Rash Behari Bose arranged for the poet to stay at the residence of his friend, the industrialist and thinker Dr.Kunihiko Oukura at his splendid residence in Meguro, Tokyo. Here Rabindranath stayed for three weeks and formed a deep friendship with Kunihiko. The two exchanged views on various issues. Kunihiko gave the poet the very best hospitality. The relationship was so deep that Dr. Kunihiko respectfully played an outstanding role in celebrating the centenary of the poet after the 2nd world war. He took the three-and-a-half-year master plan in 1958. He became the president of the Tagore Memorial Association. It is difficult to find a comparison of what a huge amount of work and events have been done! I have tried to write this history in detail in the book in Bengali “Rabindranath Ebong Japan: Shoto Borsher Somporko” or “Rabindranath and Japan: The Relationship of the Centenary” published on the occasion of Rabindranath’s 150th birth anniversary in 2011. Also published the book later in the same year as a transcreated version in English with the title: “Rabindranath Tagore: India-Japan Cooperative Perspectives” from India Center Foundation in Japan.
In fact, it was under the influence of Rabindranath and Okakura’s oriental orientation that the large-scale “India-Japan Global Partnership Summit” was held in Tokyo in 2011–privately for three days. Behind these two events, Tagore’s birth centenary celebration and IJGPS was the extensive cooperation of the two governments. That is why Rabindranath’s first visit to Japan in 1916 is a very significant event. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose whom Rabindranath called a “Statesman”– would not have been able to come to Japan if Rash Behari Bose had not come to Japan earlier as a chance of Tagore’s Japan trip. “The Azad Hind Fauj” or “INA=Indian National Army” and Netaji’s campaign to “Imphal” the capital of the Indian state of Manipur would not have been formed with the Japanese Imperial Army.
Despite Japan’s defeat in World War II, the captive forces of the INA revolted due to the prudent patriotism of Rash Behari Bose and Netaji, and incidentally the British were forced to relinquish power–India gained its much-desired independence in 1947.
Not only that, but the followers of all the influential political leaders and eminent intellectuals who were close friends and supporters of guru Touyama’s beloved revolutionary Rash Behari Bose later supported the Bengalis in Japan during the Bangladesh War of Independence by forming public opinion, raising money and cooperating relief to the refugees sheltered in India. On 10th February 1972, Japan recognized independent Bangladesh. In 1973, an unimaginable reception was given to the architect of Bangladesh Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Tokyo. After independence in 1972, the Japanese government sent three prominent Japanese nationals to Dhaka to invite Bangabandhu to visit Japan. They are influential politicians, MP, and former Labor Minister Mr. Takashi Hayakawa, Netaji’s comrade-in-arms lieutenant general Iwaichi Fujiwara and prominent journalist, writer, and political figure Masaaki Tanaka. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman came on a state visit at the invitation of the Government of Japan. At that coloured state reception, the then nationalist leader, Prime Minister Mr. Kakuei Tanaka, began his inaugural address with a history of Okakura-Rabindranath friendly relations.
Notes:
1.2.3. Hi Chen O Ikiru / Koura TomiJiten / DomezShuppan / Tokyo / 1983
4. Indo Dokuritsu no Shishi to Nihonjin / Hara Yoshiaki / Tendensha / Tokyo / 2003
5. Chichi Bousu / Higuchi Tetsuko / Hakusuisha / Tokyo / 2006
Shamol Nath is a writter & Documentary film Director. Shamol Nath Write and made documetaries over the decade.
He mainly focus on literature and films. Write poems, story, eassy and recently write a novel etc.
