Japanese will join Odias to celebrate Rath Yatra for the first time at Kasugai City, in Japan's Aichi Prefecture. The Rath Yatra organising committee has a good number of Japanese and Odia members and is being supported by the Japan-India-Odisha Fellowship Club (JIOC), Tridhara, an Odissi dance organisation based in Japan, and Shree Jagannath Society, Japan.
"We have come together to celebrate Rath Yatra to promote universal peace and brotherhood, people to people bonding and friendship and cultural exchange in the times of climate crisis and the pandemic," said Choudhury Rudra Charan Mohanty, the vice-chairman of the organising committee.Chisato Miura, a Japanese, has been made the chairman and treasurer of the group.Preparations started by placing an order for the idols of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra with a craftsman in Puri and buying clothes for the idols and the chariot cover from Pipili. The neelachakra has been donated by an Odia residing in Australia, Mohanty said.
A 10 feet high chariot is being built in Japan by Koji Kawachi, a Japanese carpenterfor the festival that has the support of government authorities. "Rath Yatra will be celebrated at the Bunka Forum Kasugai Auditorium. The committee has put together a cultural programme that will reflect Indian and Japanese ethos," he said.
Besides Kasugai, Rath Yatra will also be celebrated in Tokyo (June 25), Kawasaki (June 24) and Bando city (July 2). "The Odisha Community, Japan, has been organising the festival in Kawasaki for over a decade now. They were the first to start Rath Yatra at Saitama city and later shifted it to Yokohama and then Kawasaki to popularise it," said Pratima Behera, a schoolteacher.
"This year, we plan to serve food to 1,000 people by cooking it ourselves. We also make dry prasad and distribute it among the people," said Behera. In Tokyo, the festivities will take place in Edogawaku as it is home to a large number of Indians. "We have built the chariot in Japan. We will transport it to the location on a truck. We expect around 300 people to attend. They will be served prasad," said Debendra Mohanta, one of the organisers.