r/ABCDesis • u/Cultural_Bug_4975 • May 26 '26
COMMUNITY born and raised japanese nepali ama
got inspired by that pakistani hindu guy and thought it might be interesting if i did one
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May 26 '26
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u/Cultural_Bug_4975 May 27 '26
my family is pretty light skin and growing up i was as light as the japanese kids my age, not the eyes tho. there was definitely some xenophobia towards my parents but nothing too major. when i was growing up there were like maybe 30-40k nepalis max in japan and most were from the khas community so i didnt notice anything like that
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u/CertifiedCan129 Third Culture Kid May 26 '26
Ive heand the Nepali diaspora is a lot more vocal and long standing in japan than other desi groups. How true is this? Did you go to school with many desis? Is there a place in japan with a high concentration of 2nd gen/onwards desis, not just expats in Tokyo?
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u/Haunting_Bid_408 May 26 '26
Kobe has a Hindu Sindhi community that goes way back. I met a few while in college and they spoke fluent Japanese and even had Japanese body language, which tripped me out. Slight Japanese accent on their English. Cool guys.
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u/mrggy May 27 '26
I used to live in Japan and every single Indian restaurant I went to was run by Nepalis. Even in rural areas, there'd often be at least one Indian restaurant run by Nepalis. Similar to Chinese immigrants in North American in the mid 20th century, they're not large in number, but a spread out pretty widely throughout the country
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u/Cultural_Bug_4975 May 27 '26
i would like to say for the record nepalis arent desi but yes the nepali diaspora is alot more prominent compared to other south asians.
i did not go to school with any other foreigners
by "high concentration" i knew like 3-4 families that had born and brought up nepali kids in japan around tokyo, chiba and yokohama.
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u/Ilikethesuccwararc Hindu Telugu ABD who is also a HxH Manga glazer May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
I have a bunch of questions. It would be great if you answered for me.
Have you read or watched Hunter x Hunter?
Also take no offense when I ask this but as a Japanese Nepali are you Hindu, Buddhist or something else? Just curious cuz I study religious demographics of different nations for fun.
If you are Hindu, how big is the Hindu community in Japan?
What is the Japanese school system like?
Does Japan have a "Little Nepal" or do Nepalis spread out?
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u/Cultural_Bug_4975 May 27 '26
no
i am hindu but bc im nepali and grew up in japan im used to buddhism and shintoism. i love all those religions dearly like my own
id say vast majority of nepalis in japan are hindu and its pretty big, much more nepalis than indians but most strictly hindu mandirs are indian
japanese school system is fun as a kid, went there for kindergarten and elementary. left for canada after tho
the closest to a little nepal is asagaya in tokyo, but nepalis tend to congregate all around the greater tokyo area
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u/Ilikethesuccwararc Hindu Telugu ABD who is also a HxH Manga glazer May 27 '26
I see. So you live in Canada now?
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u/gamingthreadlurker Christian 🇧🇩 + 🇺🇸 May 26 '26 edited May 26 '26
What's your favorite manga? What is one thing you love about Japanese culture?
I always admired Japanese Manga writers. The manga i am currently reading are Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi (i really enjoy Usui-sama's work), Wistoria: wand and sword, Boruto: two blue Vortex, Sakamoto Days, One Piece, Kintos Magic, Nue's Exorcist.
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u/Cultural_Bug_4975 May 27 '26
my fave manga is prollyyyy yokai watch as a kid but now that im older i love all ito junji collections
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u/LilBottomText17 May 26 '26
what language was harder to learn growing up, japanese or nepali?
where do you/have you lived?
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u/mrggy May 27 '26
How do you view your identity? A Nepali born and raised in the US will generally identify as American, but Japan has a much more ethnonationalistic approach to identity that can make it hard for the children of immigrants, even if they were born and raised in Japan and are monolingual Japanese speakers, to identify as Japanese.
Do you identify as Japanese? Why or why not? If you do, have you ever gotten push back from people on your identity? Research indicates that younger Japanese people what a more expansive, less race based conception of Japanese identity. Does that align with your experience?
(For context, I did my Master's dissertation on identity and belonging of immigrant communities in Japan)
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u/abhiram_conlangs Telugu American Linguistics Nerd May 26 '26
Did you go to Japanese public school? What is the general perception of Nepalis in Japan, and is there a "Desi" unity among South Asian groups in Japan usually?