Foreseeing future in India, Japanese youths tour Delhi to learn micro entrepreneurial skills
Aged between 13 - 23, a group of 14 youths were in Delhi recently when they visited organic farming fields, and prepared and sold Japanese food at HASORA Japanese organic store.
Delhi NCR (Gurugram): India’s ever rising reputation of a futuristic economy has attracted the attention of many countries worldwide including Japan. Not only well established companies, small medium enterprises (SMEs), and Startups, even the budding micro and wannabe entrepreneurs are turning towards India looking for future business prospects.
Especially, the countries like Japan has started dispatching its youngsters to India not only to study this vast-emerging market but also to get acclimatize to the Indian conditions and learn the elementary entrepreneurial nuances.
Recently a group of 14 youths aged between 13 – 23, were on a 10-day summer entrepreneurship program to Delhi and surrounding cities where they not only visited organic farming fields, they also prepared and sold Japanese food at a Japanese store HASORA. They offered a variety of traditional Japanese snacks, including freshly prepared hand-rolled sushi, delicious onigiri, and refreshing koji smoothies.
Anna Miyoshi , a high school student from Kyoto prefecture said that she had come to India to study the Indian culture, society, food, and access to healthy food.
“We went to organic farmer’s village, market, and school in Jhajjar near New Delhi. Here we saw that farmers were passionate about growing organic food. These farmers went to Vietnam to leanr modern faming techniques,” she added.
Keisuke Wada, the father of a participating boy, said that after observing and interviewing many local Indians, the kids formed 5 teams and each team invented new food and beverage products for Indians who are interested in Japanese healthy food and culture. He said that these youths held an India-Japan friendship event as the culmination of the program at HASORA Japanese Café & Organic Store in Gurugram.
Runn by twin sisters Ms. Mai and Ms. Asuka Hatta, the HASORA Japanese Café & Organic Store titled this event as “Japanese Bite Weekend,” on August 18th.
One of the main attractions of the event was the “Anime Character Bento Workshop,” where participants had the unique opportunity to create their own bento boxes featuring beloved anime characters. The touring Japanese youths offered the Indian guests Japanese food tips such as the art of crafting beautiful and delicious bento boxes.
Ms. Aiko Sasamoto, from Saitama prefecture of Japan who accompanied the youths as a coordinator, said that the idea behind this tour was to create an opportunity for the youth from junior high school to university standard to learn entrepreneurial skills in the context of India.
“India has a very diverse culture and quite different from other countries. It is a tough terrain to work. The country is not only unique but its economy is also very stable whereas Japanese economy is facing challenges. Therefore, we wanted our children to come to India learn entrepreneurial skills in tough conditions of a promising economy,” she added.
Adding to the festive atmosphere, HASORA arranged a special “Matcha × Yoyo” performance that beautifully blends the elegance of traditional Japanese tea culture with the dynamic art of Yoyo. This performance captivated audiences of all ages, providing a unique entertainment experience that marries tradition with modern flair.
For those who enjoy a more hands-on culinary experience, HASORA offered a special “Make Your Own Sushi” activity. Participants tried their hand at crafting their own sushi rolls, guided by the touring youths, and also took advantage of the special offer, “Buy 1, Get 1 Free,” making it a deliciously rewarding experience.
