Image: courtesy, Amarjit Singh Chandan.
Our Best Friends
Furthering Sikh & Punjabi Studies in Japan:
Tomio Mizokami
Tomio Mizokami (b. Kobe, Japan 1941)
As a Japanese scholar of Punjabi and other subcontinental languages, Tomio Mizokami has translated Guru Nanak’s Japji Sahib into Japanese.
ACADEMIC CAREER
- Graduated from the Department of Indian studies at Osaka University of Foreign Studies, 1965
- Studied at Allahabad (Hindi) and Vishva Bharati (Bengali), 1965-1968
- Appointed a research assistant at the Hindi Department of Osaka University of Foreign Studies, 1968
- Ph.D. from the Department of Modern Indian Languages, University of Delhi, 1972
- Taught Panjabi at the summer intensive course at University of California at Berkeley, June-August 1994
- Now Professor Emeritus of Osaka University of Foreign Studies, 2007 -
His publications on Punjabi include:
* 1977 - “Bilingualism in Punjab - A Case Study in Lyallpur City - “Journal of
Indian and Buddhist Studies, Tokyo, Vol. XXVI, No. 2
* 1980 - “Lingustic Outline of Fatehabad” & “Sociolinguistic Change among
Migrants in Jalandhar,” Rural-Urban Migration And Pattern of Employment
in India, Osaka
* 1981 - PUNJABI Asian and African Grammatical Manual No.13e, Tokyo
* 1983 - Introductory Punjabi, Tokyo
* 1983 - Punjabi Reader, Tokyo
* 1984 - Language Contact in Punjab [A Sociolinguistic Study of the Migrants’ Language], New Delhi, Bahri Publications
* 1985 - Practical Punjabi Conversation, Tokyo
* 1985 - Basic 1500 Punjabi Vocabularies, Tokyo
* 1989 - ”Some Orthographical Problems in Punjabi,” A Computer-assisted Study of South-Asian Languages Annual Report No.1, Tokyo
* 1992 - “Punjabi” & “Lahnda”, World Languages Dictionary, edited by Eiichi
Chino, Takashi Kamei & Rokoro Kouno, Sanseido, Tokyo
* 2004 - “Status of Research in Bangla and Punjabi Literatures in Japan,” pp 323-335
* 2004 - “Language Teaching and Cultural Interchange through the medium of Hindi Drama,” pp 341-348, Imaging India Imaging Japan: A Chronicle of Reflections on Mutual Literature, Edited by Unita Sachidanand & Teiji Sakata, Manak Publications, Delhi
Translation of Works into Japanese
From Punjabi
- Japji Sahib
From English
- “The Sikhs: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices,” by Owen Cole & Piara Singh Sambhi
February 26, 2013
Conversation about this article
1: Bhai Harbans Lal (Dallas, Texas, USA), February 26, 2013, 9:28 AM.
I have had the proud privilege of knowing Professor Tomio Mizokami personally and closely. He was first introduced to me by the late Prof Harbans Singh of Punjabi University in Patiala, Punjab. Since then, I met Tomio again during my Japan visit and also had the honour of hosting him in Chicago where he visited as a University of Chicago Research Scholar. Tomio exhibited a deep interest in the teachings of Guru Nanak and introduced himself to me as a sehajdhari Sikh when I described to him the definition of a sehajdhari Sikh. He often recited Japji and asked for further understanding of the theology and philosophy enshrined in this sacred text. Tomio always came across as a very humble and gentle person. The Sikh population of Japan knows him well and he often speaks at their gatherings.
2: Kulwant Singh (Oakville, Ontario, Canada), February 26, 2013, 12:23 PM.
I can sum up my feelings about Professor Mizokami with one word - Wow!
3: Rupinder Singh Marco (New Delhi, India), February 27, 2013, 10:56 AM.
It is a commendable effort. I have been travelling to Japan on business for the last 35 years. Many of my Japanese friends ask questions about the Sikh Faith and Guru Granth Sahib. With this work I can introduce them to an in-depth study of the Guru Granth.
4: Baldev Singh (London, United Kingdom), February 27, 2013, 11:57 AM.
My wife is Japanese and took Amrit some 10 years ago. She still travels to Tokyo regularly to attend to her aged mother.
5: SSN (USA), March 02, 2013, 2:59 PM.
I have the deepest respect for Japanese culture and people, and of course their way of life. I'm so glad and filled with pride that Prof. Mizokami has spent a large part of his life dedicated to the subject. I've always felt that there are much similarities between the our respective communities.
6: Jagwant Singh Bhatti (Goa, India), May 06, 2013, 10:40 AM.
Waheguru has taken good seva from you ... to translate Japji Sahib into Japanese!