Japan has a town named after Hindu goddess Lakshmi

Japan has a town near Tokyo in Japan named after Hindu goddess Lakshmi. "Kichijoi, a town near Tokyo, was named after Hindu goddess Lakshmi," said Takayuki Kitagawa, Consul General of Japan.

"A town near Tokyo has its origin from Lakshmi. Kichioji means Lakshmi temple in Japanese," news agency IANS quoted Kitagawa. Kitagawa was addressing a group of students in an educational institute in Bengaluru yesterday.

Highlighting the similarities between India and Japan, the Consul General said that Japanese and Indian cultures are not different and temples in Japan being dedicated to Hindu gods are examples of that.


He said that even Japanese language is influenced by Indian languages. "There were many words from Sanskrit in Japanese script," he said.

"For instance, Japanese dish sushi is made of rice and vinegar. Sushi is also associated with shari, which is from Sanskrit word 'zaali', meaning rice," the Consul added.

He said that the origin of about 500 Japanese words can be traced to Sanskrit and Tamil.

(Inputs from IANS)