Bridging Cultures: My Journey from India to Japan

Introduction

This post is personal. It is not an abstract comparison of two countries, but a reflection shaped by years of living, working, learning, and quietly changing between India and Japan. I was born and raised in Indore, India, and lived there until the age of 21. After completing my degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at IIT Bombay, I moved to Japan, where I spent the next six years of my life.

As I prepare to move back to India, the weight of leaving Japan feels heavier than I expected. This transition is more than a physical relocation. It feels like closing a chapter that fundamentally reshaped how I think, work, and understand the world. With some distance, I can now see how both countries influenced me in different, sometimes conflicting, yet ultimately complementary ways.

From an early age, I was drawn to mathematics, gadgets, and technology. That curiosity led me to IIT Bombay, and eventually toward Japan. Long before I moved, my interest in Japanese culture grew through anime, stories of technological precision, and a quiet admiration for how tradition and modernity coexist there. Encouraged by friends and guided by curiosity, I took the leap, learned the language, and immersed myself in Japanese life, both professionally and culturally.

During my time in Japan, I worked on cutting-edge projects involving autonomous driving, robotics, and artificial intelligence. Now, at 28, as I prepare to return to India, this feels like the right moment to reflect on the two cultures that shaped me, not as opposites, but as distinct lenses through which life can be understood and lived.

Cultural Values: Similarities Beneath the Differences

India and Japan are often perceived as vastly different, yet living in both reveals subtle overlaps beneath the surface. Both societies place strong emphasis on respect for elders, hospitality, community harmony, and everyday rituals. Removing shoes before entering homes, valuing cleanliness, and showing consideration for others are deeply ingrained in both cultures.

Religion and spirituality occupy different but significant spaces. India is defined by religious diversity, with Hinduism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity, Buddhism, and others coexisting in daily life. Japan primarily follows Shinto and Buddhist traditions, where spirituality is often quieter and woven into routine rather than explicitly expressed.

Communication styles differ sharply. Indians tend to be direct, expressive, and emotionally open. In Japan, people often communicate indirectly, carefully choosing words to avoid discomfort or conflict. Silence carries meaning, and restraint is considered a form of respect.

Both societies value order and harmony, but they approach rules differently. Japan places strong emphasis on adherence to systems and collective responsibility. In India, flexibility and personal networks often play a larger role in navigating everyday challenges. Japanese cities feel safe even late at night, while in India, awareness and adaptability are essential survival skills.

Interestingly, even language reflects shared concepts. The Sanskrit word “seva,” meaning selfless service, appears in Japanese as 世話 (sewa), carrying the idea of taking care of others. These small connections hint at deeper philosophical overlaps.

Social hierarchy has historically shaped both cultures. India’s caste system and Japan’s class divisions emerged from attempts to organize society but later hardened into systems that caused inequality. While India now uses affirmative action and legal reforms to address caste-based discrimination, Japan continues to grapple with historical marginalization of groups such as the Burakumin and Ainu.

Despite these challenges, both societies continue striving toward inclusivity, learning from history while attempting to build fairer futures.

Time itself is treated differently. India often operates with a flexible sense of punctuality, while Japan treats time as sacred. Trains, meetings, and routines run with near-perfect precision. Living in Japan taught me how deeply respect for others’ time reflects respect for people themselves.

Language and Communication: Learning to Think Differently

Before moving to Japan, I learned Hiragana and Katakana through the YouTube channel Japanese101 by Risa. Real learning, however, began only after arriving. Company-sponsored teachers gave me a foundation, but daily life in a Japanese-speaking environment forced constant adaptation.

Over time, I discovered that Japanese grammar felt closer to Indian languages than to English. Sentence structures, verb placement, and expressions of politeness felt surprisingly familiar. Pronunciation also came naturally, as Japanese phonetic sounds exist in Hindi.

The true challenge was Kanji. While I became fluent in spoken Japanese, reading remained difficult. Watching Chinese and Taiwanese friends effortlessly read Japanese text made me realize how deeply writing systems shape language learning. Kanji became less a barrier and more a reminder that fluency has layers.

After three years, I passed the JLPT N2 exam, reaching business-level proficiency. More importantly, learning Japanese reshaped how I think. It taught me patience, nuance, and the power of listening before speaking.

Food and Cuisine: Adjusting the Palate

Food was one of the most tangible cultural adjustments. Despite the stereotype, I was never fond of extremely spicy Indian food. Even so, Japanese cuisine felt remarkably mild. What is considered spicy in Japan barely registered for me.

Living in Osaka, often called Japan’s kitchen, was a highlight. Dishes like Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki became comfort food. While Indian restaurants exist in Japan, they represent only a narrow slice of India’s culinary diversity.

The biggest challenge was vegetarian food. In India, I ate meat rarely, and vegetarian options were effortless to find. In Japan, even dishes that appeared vegetarian often contained fish-based ingredients. Learning to read labels and ask the right questions became a survival skill.

What stood out was Japanese attention to packaging and usability. Food packages were thoughtfully designed, easy to open, and intuitive. It was a small but powerful lesson in user-centered thinking applied to everyday life.

Education and Work Culture: Discipline Meets Adaptability

Education shaped me differently in each country. India’s system emphasized competition, theory, and examinations. Studying at IIT Bombay was intense, but it built strong analytical thinking and resilience.

Japanese education felt more holistic. Group activities, responsibility, and character development were central. This mindset carried into work culture, where collaboration mattered more than individual brilliance.

At work in Japan, hierarchy coexisted with shared responsibility. Everyone, including managers, participated in cleaning. Mornings began with group exercises. Monthly rotations assigned teams to safety checks, storage organization, and hazard inspections.

The 5S methodology was practiced rigorously. Workspaces were inspected, routines refined, and even brief weekly meetings focused on accident prevention. These habits reinforced discipline, awareness, and collective ownership.

Japanese work culture values loyalty, precision, and endurance. Long hours are common, and punctuality is non-negotiable. In contrast, Indian work culture is more flexible, adaptive, and increasingly influenced by global tech practices, with greater emphasis on work-life balance.

Working on autonomous driving, robotics, and AI projects allowed me to absorb these values firsthand. I leave Japan with technical skills, but more importantly, with a deeper respect for process, consistency, and teamwork.

Nature and Urban Spaces: Two Ways of Living

India and Japan offer strikingly different experiences of space. In India, I grew up in Indore, studied in Mumbai, and traveled widely, especially loving the northeastern states like Sikkim.

In Japan, I lived in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Saitama. I explored both hyper-dense cities and quiet countryside, visiting places like Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima, Mount Fuji, Tottori, Ōkunoshima, and Shikoku.

Japan’s safety, transport efficiency, and organization made travel effortless, though expensive. India’s chaos was offset by warmth, scale, and emotional richness.

From Kerala’s backwaters to Kyoto’s temples, both countries offer beauty in very different forms. Experiencing both has reshaped how I understand balance between nature, cities, and human life.

Conclusion

Living between India and Japan has been one of the most formative experiences of my life. Each country challenged me in different ways, expanded my perspective, and left lasting imprints on how I think and work.

As I return to India, I carry gratitude for Japan and a renewed sense of purpose. I hope to apply what I have learned, not by choosing one culture over the other, but by bridging the two.

This journey taught me that cultures are not competing identities but complementary systems of wisdom. In an increasingly interconnected world, learning to live between them may be one of the most valuable skills of all.