An Indian origin Japanese has been elected to Tokyo's Edogawa ward assembly. The 41-year-old man known as 'Yogi' is the first Indian to win any election in Japan. Puranik Yogendra, naturalised Japanese received 6, 477 votes which is fifth highest of the 226,561 valid ballots cast in polls held in April 21 as part of the unified local elections held across the country, Asahi Shimbun, a Japan daily, reported.

"I want to be a bridge between Japanese and foreigners," said Yogi, who was backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan.

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Edogawa has Indian population in thick among the 23 wards in the capital Tokyo and 4300 Indians registered the ward which accounts for 10 percent of roughly 34,000 Indians living in the country.

The ward also has large number of Chinese and Koreans.

"This is the first victory of a naturalised Japanese of Indian origin in elections in Japan. This is also a recognition of contributions made by Indians towards the Japanese society," Shamshad Khan, the author of 'Changing Dynamics of India-Japan Relations', said.

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Yogi first came to Japan in 1997 when he was a university student in India. He went back to India two years later to study and in 2001 came back to Japan to work as an engineer.

He later worked for a bank and other companies and has been living in Edogawa Ward since 2005.

"Japan is neat and everyone was kind," Yogi said, recalling his early experiences.

He believes that his ties with his adopted home were cemented after the country went through earthquake and tsunami in 2011 and he came to know more about the country when would visit the affected area on weekends to help the people affected due to two calamities.

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The paper said he would curry with other Indian friends and help the victim by providing them food and during that course of meeting the victims, he drew a close affinity with country and the people.

"I felt the time had come for me to become Japanese," Yogi said. In 2012, he acquired the Japanese nationality and pursued his career in politics.

"I want to be an assemblyman who can connect everyone regardless of nationality, age, or even disabilities, through my 20 years of living in Japan," Yogi said.

(With PTI inputs)