Japanese library to come up in Aundh

Pune: The shelves are stocked and all arrangements are complete for what is likely to be the biggest Japanese book library in the city.
Initiated by the Science and Technology Park and the Indo-Japan Business Council, Pune, the library would be inaugurated by Yoshiaki Ito, the Consul General of Japan in Mumbai, on Monday in Aundh.
In its first phase, the library would have 5,000 books across seven categories, including novels in basic Japanese for beginners, comics, dictionaries, encyclopedia on history, geography and culture, Japanese food recipe books and management books.
"These are only a fraction of the 27,000 books donated to the Science and Technology Park over the years. But sorting and tagging all the books takes a lot of time and manpower. The library is likely to have around 20,000 books by the end of the year," said Shrikant Atre of the Indo-Japan Business Council, also an assistant professor at Tilak Maharashtra Vidypeeth (TMV).
The library aims to promote Japanese culture, language and education while serving the Japanese and Indian community. It will not only serve the Japanese language teachers and students, but also those interested in the culture, besides natives of Japan in Pune and companies doing business with Japan.
"Be it science, technology, education or social life, Pune and Japan always enjoyed a special bond. Today, around 200 Japanese people are working in Pune across various companies, industries and associations. Three institutions - Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), TMV and Indo Japanese Association - offer Japanese language courses and nearly 15,000 people from Pune have learned the language from these institutions. Around 50 Japanese students are currently residing in Pune and many of them have learned Marathi," said Sudhir Rashingkar, a management committee member of the council.
Atre said this large target readership in Pune was a big reason to start the library here. "At present, TMV, SPPU and other institutes teaching Japanese have libraries with only around 1,500 to 2,000 books. Besides, these books are usually exclusive to the students of the respective institutes. The new library will have Japanese books for anyone interested in them. Membership fees also won't be very high," he said.
The news also has Japanese friends of the council excited. "Many of our Japanese friends have expressed interest in donating as many as 60,000 books to the library," Atre added.
Anilkumar J Hatkar, the president of the executive committee of the council, is confident that the facility would prove beneficial to the Japanese education scenario as well as the Japanese people living here.
"We are proud of this library coming up in Pune and are grateful for all those involved in the project. As Japan is heavily investing in India right now, this initiative would help us brand Pune as an attractive investment destination for the Japanese industry," Hatkar added.