Everything changed for Yogendra "Yogi" Puranik the day he attended a committee meeting in 2016 discussing a plan to create a version of Singapore's Little India district in Nishikasai, an area of Tokyo's Edogawa Ward that boasts a sizable Indian population.
As he tells it, Yogi was the "only Indian from a professional background" taking part, the rest of the Indian representation being made up of restaurant owners, a reflection of the "old diaspora."
"They should've been involving the professionals as well," Yogi, now 42, tells The Japan Times referring to the new wave of migrants that consist of Indians working in IT and at multinational companies. "These are the people who are struggling, and their experiences and suggestions matter."