In this slice of Japan, a dash of Mumbai masala

If you weren’t looking for it, you’d probably miss it – a quaint little bungalow that just happens to be the only Japanese school in the city. It caters to the 270-odd Japanese expats who reside in Mumbai.

“The Bombay Japanese School (BJS) is one of the two Japanese schools in the whole of India; the other school is in Delhi,” says Takeshi Masayo, the jovial principal, clapping at every successful attempt in conveying his message in English.

It caters to the children of diplomats, Japanese businessmen and professionals, who are posted in Mumbai.

With a total of 17 students, the BJS is one of its kind, where the teachers — both Indian and Japanese — outnumber the students. Established in 1966, under the purview of the Japanese Ministry of Education and Science, the school is funded by the Japanese Government.

It houses idols of many Indian gods, but Masayo’s favourite is Ganpati. “I find Ganesh very cute,” he says. “Besides teaching conventional subjects, students learn music, cooking, sewing and carpentry classes,” says Takeshi.

But it’s not just academics and extra-curricular activities that the students are involved in. Children dressed in branded clothes are seen squatting and cleaning the classroom floor till it gleams. “It is a basic moral to keep the place you use clean. This is a common practice in Japanese schools,” says Takeshi.

The students are a fun-loving and hard-working bunch — they have managed to adapt to a culture that is very different from theirs.

Hirochika Komatsu, 15, says, “I like wearing a uniform.” When asked why, Minama Morita, 12, comes to his defence. “It’s a pain to decide what to wear every morning,” she says.

Minama is not fond of Indian food as she finds it very spicy, but eight-year-old Keigo Satsuka loves butter chicken and naan. Hirochika, on the other hand, often indulges in pav bhaji. He has to think hard to recollect the name of the dish. “Our maid makes amazing pav bhaji,” he says.

“The BJS curriculum is designed to ensure that students don’t lag behind their Japanese counterparts when they return home,” says Satoru Suzuki, 34, a Japanese teacher at the school. There are about 125 such schools worldwide, and are traditionally called Nihonjin gakko.

Among the 15 teachers, eight are Japanese; the rest are Indians. The Japanese teachers teach Maths, Science, History and Geography as these subjects are taught in Japanese. Mrs Khanna, who has been teaching English at the school for 24 years, says: “The school has now become a part of my life. We are like one big family at the BJS.”

There are seven air-conditioned class rooms, a science lab, a common hall and a media room with one laptop per student. This year, cooking, music and Bollywood dancing are the more popular subjects introduced. Hirochika struggles hard to recollect the lyrics of the popular Bollywood number. “Krazy kiya re,” he shrieks ecstatically after being able to remember the song.

While Hirochika’s favourite Bollywood actors are Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, Minama prefers to be loyal to her Krazy kiya re heroine whose name she can barely pronounce, but utters softly, “Aishwarya Rai”.
a_humaira@dnaindia.net