Japanese Exec Nobuhiro Takahashi becomes Yogi, gets spiritual name, returns to Japan as Yogi Anand

Mamta On Mar 15, 2021

Nobuhiro Takahashi stayed in India for 13 years.

NEW DELHI: Nobuhiro Takahashi (57) – a senior executive with a Japanese multinational company, who came to India 13 years before, has returned to his home country Japan as a transformed individual, and attained a spiritual name Yogi Anand.

During this time he switched to vegetarian food, quit alcohol, and acquired the lifestyle of a Saint. Waking up early well before the sunrise in the morning and going to sleep before the sunset has become a way of life for him.

Nobuhiro Takahashi who was an Advisor with the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII) practiced yoga, meditation, and spiritual healing regularly has joined the league of many other foreigners including Japanese who practice yoga and meditation, and also formally take training and become certified Yoga practitioners.

In October last year when the COVID-19 pandemic was at its peak around the world including in India, and people preferred to stay confined to their homes, and avoided travel, Takahashi reached the foothills in north Indian state Himachal Pradesh.

He reached Dharamshala by road to attend one-month yoga, meditation, and spiritual healing course at the Kailash Tribal School, a centre for Yoga and holistic healing, a member of Yoga Alliance, USA.

That’s where he was awarded the spiritual name, Yogi Anand – by his Guru – Yogi Sivadas (Sugathakumar Narayanan Nair). Yogi Anand means which means happiness blissful.

Yogi Sivadas is a gifted and established healer who teaches and practices Holistic Ayurveda, Reiki, Sound Healing, and Meditation. His students, mostly foreigners are spread across more than 20 countries.

“At the Kailash Trible School, I would get wake up 4.00 am, chant mantras for one hour, get to yoga asanas for two hours and study yoga philosophy for three hours, after the break and again perform yoga Asanas for two hours and then study the five books my guru Yogi Sivadas gave to me,” Takahashi san told Asian Community News (ACN) Network, a day before flying back to Japan.

“Yoga is good for life in practice, peace, prosperity, spiritual enlightens, and it serves as the vital for the spiritual growth and transformation of humanity. Deep understanding is required to strike balance between spiritual and official life. I wanted to study the yoga philosophy based on the eight limbs of the ancient Patanjali Yoga Sutra – Yamas, Niyamas, Asanas, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi,” he added.

Born in 1963, Takahashi is a graduate of the Osaka University of Foreign Studies and takes an avid interest in world economic and political developments revolving especially around Japan, India, and China, and he is a staunch supporter of the India-Japan friendship.

Before joining the training school in Dharamshala, he not only studied about the yoga philosophy and meditation but also practiced asanas at home in Gurugram. For him, there was no point joining the training classes without practice, preparation and study.

Yogi Sivadas with his foreign students at Kailash Tribal School.

He has visited many historical sites of heritage importance across India and studied about the country at length.

However, there is no stopping here for Takahashi san as he wants to return to India and again get back studying yoga philosophy and meditation in deeper terms and also attend the advanced course.

“Most probably, I would return to India after Tokyo Olympics to pursue an advanced course in yoga and meditation may be 2month and maybe more this time,” he added.

In a first of its kind instance, Takahashi san has also authored a book titled “What you should know about India to succeed in India” in the Japanese language (インドでビジネスを成功させるために知っておくべきこと).

Staying and working in India for the last 13 years, Nobuhiro Takahashi has poured his 30 years of corporate experience dealing with the Indian business ecosystem in his 142-page book.

A few days before going back to Japan recently, he had gifted one copy of his book to the Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also.