East Asian influence on Northeast India

Last updated

The East Asian countries of Japan and Korea have significant contemporary influence over and cultural similarities with Northeast India, which engages to a significant extent with Korean and Japanese culture and has been receiving infrastructural investment from Japan.

Contents

China

Japan

Historically, Northeast India and Japan have been connected to some extent through Buddhism; other cultural similarities have existed for millennia, such as in food and through an appreciation for nature. [1] [2] During World War 2, the Japanese military collaborated with the Indian National Army in the region; [3] eventually, the westward expansion of the Japanese Empire was put to a stop in Northeast India in the 1944 Battle of Imphal. Since then, Japan has contributed to the construction of infrastructure in the region. [4] Northeast Indians consume some Japanese cultural products as well, such as anime. [1]

Northeast India is currently being prioritized by India and Japan as part of Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific strategy and as part of India's Act East policy, [5] with both countries seeing the region as especially important for creating trading routes due to their collective rejection of China's Belt and Road Initiative. [6] Northeast India, in conjunction with the neighboring BIMSTEC country of Bangladesh, is seen by Japan as an important region in containing China, [7] [8] while India seeks to use its northeastern region to increase engagement with Southeast Asia. [8] The geographical similarities between Northeast India and Japan, as well as India's guarding of its northeast as a sensitive border region that it is unwilling to allow untrusted partner countries to invest in, are other major factors leading to India desiring Japan's involvement in the region. [9] [10]

Korea

Northeast India has often felt alienated from the rest of India (sometimes referred to as "mainland India"), leading it in recent decades to look towards phenotypically and culturally similar parts of Asia in the east for connection. Part of this alienation is due to local insurgents and others banning Hindi cinema and other potential tools of "Indianization" in the region. [11] [12] [13] In this context, Korean culture has become popular in Northeast India, with Korean words becoming increasingly prevalent in the local languages. [14] Korean food has also become increasingly popular at local restaurants. [15] The popularity of Korean culture that emerged in Northeast India has since spread to the rest of India in recent years. [13] One aspect of Korean culture's popularity in Northeast India is its ability to incorporate Christian principles in a non-Western manner, making it more relatable in some ways to Northeast Indian youth than Western culture. [16]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia</span> Continent

Asia is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometers, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which has long been home to the majority of the human population, was the site of many of the first civilizations. Its 4.7 billion people constitute roughly 60% of the world's population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengal</span> Region in the eastern Indian subcontinent

Bengal or endonym Bangla is a historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between modern-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal. The Indian states of Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattishgarh and Tripura as well as the union territory of Andaman and Nicobar islands have a sizeable Bengali population. A large Bengali diaspora exists across the world. Bengali is the sixth-most spoken language in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian cuisine</span> Culinary traditions of Asia

Asian food incorporates a few significant provincial cooking styles: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. A food is a trademark way of cooking practices and customs, usually associated with a specific culture. Asia, being the largest and most populous continent, is home to many cultures, many of which have their own characteristic cuisine. Asian cuisine is considered the “culture of food within a society” because of the beliefs, cooking methods, and the specific ingredients used throughout the entire process. Asian cuisine are also famous about their spices. A main taste factor to Asian cuisine is the “umami” flavor. Umami is a strong savoriness that is a prominent taste among Asian cooking that can be made through fermented food or meat extract.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeast India</span> Group of Northeastern Indian states

Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura, and the "brother" state of Sikkim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subregion</span> Part of a larger geographic region or continent

A subregion is a part of a larger region or continent. Cardinal directions are commonly used to define subregions. There are many criteria for creating systems of subregions; this article is focusing on the UN statistical geoscheme, which is a changing, constantly updated, UN tool based on specific political geography considerations relevant in UN statistics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hankuk University of Foreign Studies</span> Private university in South Korea

Hankuk University of Foreign Studies is a private research university based in Seoul, in South Korea. The university currently teaches 45 foreign languages. In addition, it contains studies in humanities, law, political science, social sciences, business, medical science, natural sciences, and engineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asia–Pacific</span> Geopolitical region

The Asia–Pacific (APAC) is the region of the world adjoining the western Pacific Ocean. The region's precise boundaries vary depending on context, but countries and territories in Australasia, East Asia, and Southeast Asia are often included. In a wider context, Central Asia, North Asia, the Pacific Islands, South Asia, West Asia, and even Pacific-adjoining countries in the Americas can be included. For example, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) includes five countries in the New World. The term has become popular since the late 1980s in commerce, finance, and politics. Despite the heterogeneity of the regions' economies, most individual nations within the zone are emerging markets experiencing rapid growth. Sometimes, the notion of "Asia–Pacific excluding Japan" (APEJ) is considered useful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Culture of Asia</span>

The culture of Asia encompasses the collective and diverse customs and traditions of art, architecture, music, literature, lifestyle, philosophy, food, politics and religion that have been practiced and maintained by the numerous ethnic groups of the continent of Asia since prehistory. Identification of a specific culture of Asia or universal elements among the colossal diversity that has emanated from multiple cultural spheres and three of the four ancient River valley civilizations is complicated. However, the continent is commonly divided into six geographic sub-regions, that are characterized by perceivable commonalities, like culture, religion, language and relative ethnic homogeneity. These regions are Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia and West Asia.

Burmese people or Myanma people are citizens or people from Myanmar (Burma), irrespective of their ethnic or religious background. Myanmar is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. The Burmese government officially recognises 135 ethnic groups, who are grouped into eight 'national races,' namely the Bamar (Burmans), Shan, Karen, Rakhine (Arakanese), Mon, Kachin, Chin, and Kayah (Karenni). Many ethnic and ethnoreligious communities exist outside these defined groupings, such as the Burmese Chinese and Panthay, Burmese Indians, Anglo-Burmese, and Gurkhas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Korean Wave</span> Global rise in popularity of Korean culture

The Korean Wave or Hallyu is a cultural phenomenon in which the global popularity of South Korean popular culture has dramatically risen since the 1990s. Worldwide interest in Korean culture has been led primarily by the spread of K-pop and K-dramas, with keystone successes including BTS and Psy's "Gangnam Style", as well as Jewel in the Palace, Winter Sonata, and Squid Game. The Korean Wave has been recognized as a form of soft power and as an important economic asset for South Korea, generating revenue through both exports and tourism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bengalis</span> Ethnic group native to Bangladesh and India

Bengalis, also rendered as endonym Bangalee, are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. The current population is divided between the sovereign country Bangladesh and the Indian regions of West Bengal, Tripura, Barak Valley, Goalpara, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and parts of Meghalaya, Manipur and Jharkhand. Most speak Bengali, a language from the Indo-Aryan language family. Sub-section 2 of Article 6 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states, "The people of Bangladesh shall be known as Bengalis as a nation and as Bangladeshis as citizens."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Asia</span> Overview of sport in Asia

Basketball is the most popular sport overall in Asia. Cricket is the second most popular sport in Asia, and is most popular in South Asia. Other popular sports in Asia include association football, baseball, badminton and table tennis among others. There are also some traditional sports that are popular in certain regions of Asia, such as the South Asian sports kabaddi and kho-kho, and sepak takraw in Southeast Asia. Top sporting nations/regions in Asia include China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, India, Iran, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Look East policy (India)</span> Indias foreign policy dealing with South-East Asian nations

The Act East policy is an effort by the government of India to cultivate extensive economic and strategic relations with the nations of Southeast Asia to bolster its standing as a regional power and a counterweight to the strategic influence of the People's Republic of China. Initiated in 1991, the Look East policy by Indian government marked a strategic shift in India’s perspective of the world. It was developed and enacted during the government of Prime Minister Narsimha Rao (1991–1996) and rigorously pursued by the successive administrations of Atal Bihari Vajpayee (1998–2004) and Manmohan Singh (2004–2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East Asia</span> Subregion of the Asian continent

East Asia is a region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. Hong Kong and Macau, two coastal cities located in the south of China, are autonomous regions under Chinese sovereignty. The economies of Japan, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau are some of the world's largest and most prosperous economies. East Asia borders Siberia and the Russian Far East to the north, Southeast Asia to the south, South Asia to the southwest, and Central Asia to the west. To the east is the Pacific Ocean and to the southeast is Micronesia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic groups in Asia</span>

The ancestral population of modern Asian people has its origins in the two primary prehistoric settlement centres – greater Southwest Asia and from the Mongolian plateau towards Northern China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian subcontinent</span> Physiographical region in South Asia

The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia, mostly situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it spans major landmasses from the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. The neighboring geographical regions around the subcontinent include the Tibetan Plateau to the north, the Indochinese Peninsula to the east, the Iranian Plateau to the west, and the Indian Ocean to the south. Although the terms "Indian subcontinent" and "South Asia" are often used interchangeably to denote the region, the geopolitical term of South Asia frequently includes Afghanistan, which is not part of the subcontinent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate of Asia</span> Overview of the climate of Asia

The climate of Asia is dry across its southwestern region. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in the western part of Asia. The monsoon circulation dominates across the southern and eastern regions, due to the Himalayas forcing the formation of a thermal low which draws in moisture during the summer. The southwestern region of the continent experiences low relief as a result of the subtropical high pressure belt; they are hot in summer, warm to cool in winter, and may snow at higher altitudes. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere, and can act as a source of arctic air mass for North America. The most active place on Earth for tropical cyclone activity lies northeast of the Philippines and south of Japan, and the phase of the El Nino-Southern Oscillation modulates where in Asia landfall is more likely to occur. Many parts of Asia are being impacted by climate change.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylhetis</span> Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group

The Sylheti or Sylhetis are an Indo-Aryan ethnocultural group that are associated with the Sylhet region. There are strong diasporic communities in Barak Valley of Assam, India, North Tripura, as well as in rest of Bangladesh and northeast India. They speak Sylheti, an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that is considered "a distinct language by many and a dialect of Bengali by some others".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern culture</span> Eastern culture

Eastern culture, also known as Eastern civilization and historically as Oriental culture, is an umbrella term for the diverse cultural heritages of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies of the Eastern world.

References

  1. 1 2 "Japan blooms in India's North East". Gateway House. 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  2. ↑ ""Reimaging" Northeast India―NAKAMURA Yui | Features". Japan Foundation - WA Project (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  3. ↑ "Japan's Infrastructure Investment in Northeast India". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  4. ↑ "Northeast India and The Troika of Bangladesh, India and Japan - Civilsdaily". 2023-04-24. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  5. ↑ "How India and Japan Zoomed in on Northeast India". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  6. ↑ Gill, Mayumi Murayama, Sanjoy Hazarika, Preeti, ed. (2021-09-30). Northeast India and Japan: Engagement through Connectivity. London: Routledge India. doi:10.4324/9781003165026. ISBN   978-1-003-16502-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)
  7. ↑ Chowdhury, Doreen (2023-04-21). "Locating Bangladesh in Japan's North-East India Ambition". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  8. 1 2 "Why Northeast matters for India-Japan collaboration in Indo-Pacific (News Analysis)". Business Standard.
  9. ↑ Borah, Rupakjyoti (2021-03-14). "Japan Shares Good Reasons to Collaborate in Northeast India's Development | JAPAN Forward". japan-forward.com. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  10. ↑ Chowdhury, Doreen (2023-04-21). "Locating Bangladesh in Japan's North-East India Ambition". Modern Diplomacy. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  11. ↑ Das, Bijoyeta. "Manipur: A part of India where Korea rules". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  12. ↑ "Korean Cinema, Songs Rule Northeast India; Youth Looks Up To K-Pop Icons". Outlook India. 2022-05-23. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  13. 1 2 Upreti, Aditya Mani Jha & Payel Majumdar (2020-01-17). "Hallyu 2.0: Korean pop culture gains new ground in India". BusinessLine. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  14. ↑ Ghosh, Manas. "Transnational Korean Culture: A Response from North-Eastern and Eastern India".{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  15. ↑ "SOUTH KOREAN SOFT POWER IN NORTH-EAST INDIA". Sikkim Express.
  16. ↑ Kaisii, Athikho (2022), Roy, Ratan Kumar; Das, Biswajit (eds.), "Youth and Popular Culture: Korean Wave in North-East India", Korean Wave in South Asia: Transcultural Flow, Fandom and Identity, Singapore: Springer Nature, pp. 79–97, doi:10.1007/978-981-16-8710-5_4, ISBN   978-981-16-8710-5 , retrieved 2024-05-02
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.