Press Release

Prof. Sandip K. Tagore, eminent Indian in Japan is awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award by the Government of India

Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated on 9 January every year to mark the contribution of overseas Indian community in the development of India. The day commemorates the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa on 9 January 1915. The PBD Conventions are being held every year in India since 2003 to provide a platform to the overseas Indian community to engage with the government and people of India and share their experiences in various fields. The 14th PBD Convention was held in Bengaluru, India on January 7-9, 2017.

2.   During the Pravasi Bharatiya Convention, individuals of exceptional merit are honoured with the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award in recognition of their contribution to India’s growth. This year, Professor Sandip K. Tagore, Professor Emeritus of Otemon Gakuin University, Osaka, has been selected as the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman awardee for 2017 from Japan.

3.   Professor Tagore is an eminent academic, scholar, musician, artist and cultural figure who has lived in Japan for 60 years. He is one of the oldest and most prominent Indians in Japan. He played a pioneering role in promoting literature and culture exchanges between India and Japan. He started the oldest student exchange programme between Otemon Gakuin University in Japan and Gujarat University in India, which has run uninterruptedly for 45 years.

4.   His bio-profile is attached, together with a link to the Press Release put out by the Government of India on 9 January 2017 (https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/27911/Pravasi+Bharatiya+Samman+Awards2017)

***

Bio-Profile of Professor Sandip K. Tagore

Professor Sandip K. Tagore is an eminent academic, scholar, musician, artist and cultural figure, who has lived in Japan for nearly 60 years. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Otemon Gakuin University. He hails from the original (Adibari) House and Temple of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore family of Pathuriaghata, Kolkata.

He arrived in Japan in 1957 as a student and later taught at Otani Women’s University, Osaka (1965-1970), Otemon Gakuin University, Osaka (1970- 2003) and taught sitar and vocals at Osaka College of Music, Osaka (1980-1999). He was instrumental in starting the oldest student exchange programme, between Otemon Gakuin University in Osaka, Japan with Gujarat University, India, which has run uninterrupted for 45 years. PM as then Chief Minister of Gujarat, visited Otemon Gakuin University in 2007, as a result. Dr. Tagore is an accomplished musician, having performed sitar and vocals at various music festivals, concerts and television in Japan. He also held 9 exhibitions of his portraits and landscape paintings in Japan. He was commissioned by the Japanese Government in 1993 to paint a 10 metre mural and it is displayed at the Kobe Government Seminar House. He founded the Indian Culture Centre, Osaka. He is presently President of Asia-21, Library and Cultural Centre, Osaka, which promotes network of libraries in Asia, fosters understanding of different cultures and promotes international understanding. He has taught Bengali for 50 years and continues to teach Rabindra Sangeet at this Centre.

He organised the first Bengali Puja in Japan in 1972. He wrote a book “Peopled Azimuth: Reminiscences and Reflections of an Indian in Japan” in 1987. He has translated Japanese literature into Bengali. Together with his wife, Eiko, he published a book “Kothi Patal Chontra” which introduces Japanese poems, tanka and haiku in Bengali language. He also translated Japanese Nobel laureate, Yasunari Kawabata’s masterpiece “Snow Country” or “Yukiguni” into Bengali language. Professor Tagore is amongst the senior-most and pre-eminent Indians in Japan of his generation and is the foremost “cultural Ambassador” in Japan. He is an outstanding orator, educationist, musician, author, and cultural Ambassador of India at the people-to people level.

***