 seldom does one come across a person, especially from a distant land, who's devoted to your country and wants that his country should come closer to yours. Sai Chiro Musomi, who entered into his 100th year on 16th June 2015, can easily be called an architect of India-Japan relations, as he spent 70 years of his precious life in promoting the bilateral ties. As JIA office bearer, Mr. Musomi considered himself fortunate to have not only met Indian leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, K.R. Narayanan and I.K. Gujral, but also for having personally known Indian freedom struggle hero, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, acknowledging the human services of this great lover of India. The Indian government conferred the Padma Bhushan on Mr. Musomi on 30th March 2015 for promoting ties between Japan, the land of the rising sun and India, the land of sunshine. Indeed, for Mr. Musomi it was a special moment when he received the award from President Pranab Mukherjee. Though his health did not permit him to travel, he made special efforts at the age of 99 to come to India and receive the award from the President. The Indian government was pleased to give him all the special attention in taking care to ensure that he does not face any difficulty during his stay in Delhi. No matter if Mr. Musomi had to undergo dialysis, as part of his health routine or any other special care, he was prepared to face all the hardships. For him, receiving the award from the Indian President was the ultimate, the event which he had never dreamt of himself. When I was 10 years old, I was surprised. I had dialysis yesterday, I had no problem in India. I was 99 years old, so when I heard that he was coming to receive the award, it was just unbelievable. But he made it, and I think he did it in an excellent way. And I really felt very, very grateful to your government that you didn't forget about Mr. Musomi. Way back in 1992, in recognition of his services in promoting India-Japan ties, Mr. Musomi was conferred the Fifth Order of the Sacred Treasure, Zuihu Order, Gold and Silver Rays by the Emperor of Japan. Saichiro Musomi is one of those wonderful bridges between India and Japan who has sustained the relationship over his entire lifetime. He has been associated with promoting relations between India and Japan for 70 years of his life. I was really fortunate to meet Mr. Musomi as we fondly call him at the Embassy when they were celebrating his entry into his 99th year. It was a photography exhibition of his photographs which were taken by him for his wife who was bedridden and he would go out and take these photographs and take them back to her. It told me so much about the man. For Mr. Musomi, it must have been his 40th visit to India this time when he came to receive the award. During his entire career, he came to India several times. Sometimes alone, sometimes with his delegation for the promotion of economic and cultural relations. And now, at the twilight of his life, he came with his daughter to receive the Padma Award which he richly deserved. In fact, his visit to the Rashtrapati Bhawan was also not the first one. Earlier he had come in 1992 to meet the then President Shankar Dayal Sharma to commemorate the 40th anniversary of India-Japan peace treaty. He remembered giving sakura or cherry blossom seedlings to the President at that time. Mr. Musomi in return had received lotus seeds from the President from the botanical gardens of the Rashtrapati Bhavam. Mr. Musomi joined the Japan-India Association as secretary in 1937 soon after his graduation from Oyoma Gokhan University. Since then, there has been no looking back. He remained associated with the JIA till 2007 when he stepped down as office bearer. Established in 1903, the Japan-India Association is the oldest association of Japan with any country. Mr. Musomi is 100 years of age. And his 100 years of age except for the childhood has been consecrated to Japan-India relations. He is a sort of legend between Japan and India. And he is still in good shape except for some awkwardness of legs. His brain is still working. So it is our pleasure and pride to have Mr. Musomi as one of our directors. Every day Mr. Musomi used to come to the JIA office and spend the entire day in calling out information about India. Getting information from his own country was not difficult but to keep pace with the latest happenings in India on the political, economic and cultural aspects was indeed a tough call. Especially at that time when there were no mobile phones or the internet. Those days when there was nothing called an internet getting information from India about what is happening in India is something which is very very difficult. So he used to contact and say yes I want to put in my newsletter, Indo-Japan association newsletter about India because it is IJA it is but relevant to have only Indian and Japanese news. Japanese news you would collect it in being in Japan. But he has to source the Indian information. How would he get Indian information about culture, economic, whatever it is. So that is when we came across a great man like Mr. Musomi. Mr. Musomi ran the show all by himself at the JIA bringing out the newsletters month after month that kept the people in both the countries familiar with the day to day happenings. I was with this whole concept general of Japan in Chennai from 1970. I found him a very warm personality from past visit itself. Very friendly, very helpful, very affectionate especially when I was just younger to him and he offered me all help in building a similar association in Chennai. By the sweat of his brow, Mr. Musomi tirelessly worked to build the edifice of India-Japan relations. The Second World War broke out soon after Mr. Musomi joined the JIA. As the Great War drew to a close, the JIA was banned by the occupation army as it had cooperated with the Indian independence movement. Not deterred by the adverse turn of events, Mr. Musomi turned the challenge into an opportunity. He started the India-Japan Economic Promotion Committee. As its executive director, he worked to promote ties with India which went on to achieve her independence in 1947. Following the signing of the peace treaty between India and Japan in 1952, the JIA regained its original name and Mr. Musomi became its managing director. After the Second World War, when Japan was devastated, Mr. Musomi was instrumental in arranging iron ore from India for reconstruction work in Japan. In the initial years of his association with JIA, Mr. Musomi was responsible for coordinating with Japanese companies and also for compilation and publication of business directory and the JIA newsletter. In addition to promoting person-to-person interactions, Mr. Musomi made painstaking efforts to publish a catalogue every year, introducing to India the various products of Japan. Spending a lifetime on cementing the India-Japan relations, Mr. Musomi was in for a pleasant surprise when one day he found Prime Minister Narendra Modi about whom he had heard so much in front of him at an official function. The function was hosted in honour of Prime Minister Modi by the JIA and Japan-India Parliamentary Friendship League. Prime Minister Modi leaned on him and talked to Mr. Musomi and he too sat silently watching closely. Mr. Musomi recalls that the warmth of that meeting with Mr. Modi reminded him of the warmth with Subhash Chandra Bose, whom he had hugged so close that they could hear each other's heartbeat. I heard that he said that he was reminded of Subhash Chandra Bose when Prime Minister touched him, hugged him. Over there he of course didn't utter any word. That was the feeling probably he had in his heart and later on probably he converted that into words. India and Japan have in the past been bound by decultural styles which are about 20 centuries old. In recent times these cultural relations have been interrupted because of the British domination of India. It is however certain that when India is free, these relations will be revived. Bose, according to Mr. Musomi, was the first to look east by turning to Japan even before India attained independence. Subhash Chandra Bose worked very hard for India. Prime Minister Modi is also working very hard. Bose have looked east policy. It was Mr. Musomi who was instrumental in persuading the Japanese government to invite Bose to Japan. Because of the decoupling of India, they had to understand Japan even more. So, in the case of Bengal, there are many people who understand Japan in India. In that sense, Bose had to understand Japan even more in the fight against India. Even if we don't treat it in a special way, Japan and India are the most important countries in Asia. I was also told by myself. A revolutionary by nature, Bose, who was elected congress president, was disenchanted and resigned from the post, preferring to explore a military response to free India from the British colonial yoke. From his house in Kolkata, his close aide, Shishir Bose, drove the car to take Bose out of India. Finally, he reached Germany, where he mingled with Nazi top brass. In Berlin, he met Adolf Hitler. He used the German-sponsored Azad Hind Radio and started Free India Centre in Berlin. Following the arrival of Bose in Japan in 1943, Mr Misumi came in touch with him. In Tokyo, Bose stayed in a room on the third floor of the Imperial Hotel's South Wing, facing the Hibiya Park. Bose appeared before the eyes of the Japanese people when he gave a lecture at Hibiya Hall, which was organised by Mr Misumi. As supreme commander of the INA and as head of the provisional government of Free India, Bose proceeded to Myanmar on 7th January 1944, which was to act as the springboard for the army operations in India. Yangon has the mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar, who led the first Indian War of Independence in 1857. It was from this land again that Subhash Chandra Bose gave the fiery call on 4th July 1944. Give me blood, and I promise you freedom. He is very brave. And I promise you freedom. He is very, very good commander of Indian national army. When the army advance against the British soldiers, he always stands at the front line. He is very brave soldiers. Mr Misumi, who was the chief researcher at the secretariat, was sent to Burma several times to conduct research there, as it was also under the British Empire. Mr Misumi travelled on foot to Burma several times. He was walking on foot to Burma. On 18th August 1945, Bose died in a plane crash. His mortal remains were brought to Renkoji Temple in Tokyo and preserved there. Netaji's liaison officer Mr Negishi, a Japanese, always accompanied him. Before the war, my father was working in India in Mitsubishi Corporation. Mr Sender, who recommended my father as a liaison officer of Netaji. After that, when Netaji came by submarine to Southern Ireland, that time my father waited for him. That was his first time met Netaji. After that, my father followed Netaji. My father followed him to Saigon. That was the last time my father met Netaji. After that, Netaji fled to Taiwan and he met the accident. Although there are skeptics, this shrine has been visited by all leaders, like India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Javaharlal Nehru, President Rajendra Prasad and the then Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2001. Like Subhash Chandra Bose, Justice Radha Binod Pal is also revered in Japan. At a critical moment of history, when after the Second World War, the International Military Tribunal for the Far East was set up. Justice Radha Binod Pal, who was nominated to serve on it, demonstrated solidarity with the Japanese people, refusing to pronounce the Japanese guilty of war crimes. He handed in a dissenting opinion. At the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial has been erected for Justice Radha Binod Pal. As in the case of Subhash Chandra Bose, Mr Misumi helped to organize various events during the visit of the then External Affairs Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 1978 and as Prime Minister in 2001. Besides, Mr Misumi also worked closely when the then Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, held the Festival of India in Japan in 1988. In the first decade after diplomatic ties were established, relations between the two countries were upbeat. Several high-level exchanges took place, including Japanese Prime Minister, Nobusuke Kishi's visit to India in 1957. Mr Misumi gave him various ideas to make the visit a success. The visit of their Highnesses, the then Japanese Crown Prince, Akihito and Crown Princess, Michiko in 1960, took the relations to a new level. President Rajendra Prasad, Vice President Dr. S. Radha Krishnan and Prime Minister Pandit Javahalan Nehru personally received the high-ranking dignitaries on their arrival. After a gap of 50 years, they visited India again in 2013 and were equally at home, choosing to take a stroll in the Lothi Gardens in the capital. The turn of the 21st century witnessed a dramatic transformation in bilateral ties. As it was during the path-breaking visit of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in 2000 that the Japan-India global partnership was launched. Since then, there has been no looking back. When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Japan in September 2014, their relationship was upgraded to special strategic and global partnership, providing the much needed impetus for the trajectory of relations to soar to new heights. Abe and Modi decided to add one important word to our relationship. After that time, after September last year, our relationship was dubbed strategic and global partnership. He decided, Mr. Modi decided to add special and he explained why special, because our two countries are linked, bonded with spiritual bondage. That is different from other bilateral relations. India and Japan share a special spiritual bond through Buddhism that dates back to 736 AD. The Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhisenna, arrived in Japan to spread Buddhism. One of the famous Japanese travelers to India was Tenjiku Tokube who was named after Tenjiku, the Japanese word for India, which means heavenly abode. Narendra, the ancient seat of learning, had scholars and pupils from Japan. Bodh Gaya is a major pilgrim center for the Japanese. Interestingly, Hindu deities are worshipped in Japan, though under different names. Hindu deities like Saraswati, the goddess of learning, is worshipped in Japan as Benzai Ten. Lakshmi is worshipped as Kichijo Ten and Yama, the lord of death, is known as Enma. Kuber is worshipped as Bishamon Ten. These form part of the traditional Japanese Buddhist pantheon. Significantly, Mr. Misumi was greatly impressed by the Bhagavad Gita. Speaking about his attachment for the Bhagavad Gita, he remarked that he learnt a lot from the book and made use of the knowledge obtained from it in his life. As political relations between the two countries have been warm all along, Japanese companies like Sony, Toyota and Honda have launched manufacturing facilities in India. The largest tele-metro network was facilitated by Japanese assistants, which helped to conceptualize and execute the prestigious project. Mr. Misumi not only helped in introducing Japanese products to India, but also contributed in bringing Japanese music and dance to India. He personally led cultural troops to India. Besides, he visited the Kalakshetra in Chennai, considered to be a great centre for the classical Indian dancers. It is due to Mr. Misumi's efforts that in Japan, people are not only familiar with Indian classical dancers, but are also learning it. Tamil superstar Rajnikant believed the magic in Japan, following the release of Enthera. Rajnikant has become a household name, especially since his earlier super hit in Japan, Muttu. It is not only music and culture, but even the Indian cuisine is relished by the people of Japan. Rashbihari Bose, the great Indian revolutionary associated with Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who spent 30 years in Japan, started an Indian restaurant in Tokyo. It is very popular in Japan. The typical dish, Indokari, or Chicken Curry, served with rice and pickles, is relished by the people in Japan. Following the craze for it, the ready-to-eat packets of the Indian curry are sold at every store in Tokyo. Mr. Misumi, who entered the 100th year, says the secret of his health is yoga, which formed an integral part of his daily life. He learned yoga from Jeevanand Ghosh, a well-known yoga guru, and wants everyone to practice it in order to lead a healthy and an active life. I practice yoga every day. She is childhood. Mr. Misumi is fond of photography, and when it comes to cherry blossoms, he has captured the beauty of the flowers in all its hues and forms in his camera. He says he loves to present these flowers, but only to those who can protect it. He is sure that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will treasure it. The cherry blossoms in Japan are symbolic of simplicity, spring, and innocence. Japan has an annual flower viewing celebration called Hanami, where thousands of people hold feasts under the blooming cherry blossom trees. The flowering trees symbolize the renewal of spring and the friendship between nations. Indeed, there is every reason for India and Japan to celebrate the special strategic and global partnership between the two great Asian nations. Thanks to Mr. Misumi for his painstaking efforts in making this possible, by spending each day of his long career spanning nearly a century on strengthening ties between India and Japan. He is like a godsend to India. He likes India more than Indians. He loved India in the bones, I would say. Even though he has gotten an age, he has a very, very clear memory of his association with Subhashchakta bones with Justice Radha Vinod Pal and has a sweet sense of humour as he relates anecdotes. He would always put his chairman in front, but he was working all the time. He was excited, he was really happy. What he had been doing has been really, really about it. Prime Minister himself met Misumi-san and after just a couple of months he has also decided to award him. It's a really great moment for us. He is a sort of legion between Japan and India. Mr. Subhashchakta didn't talk to them. He would talk to them. I greet them. Mr. Subhashchakta has always been a great leader. India understands Japan better now. Japan understands India better now. But this is just a beginning.