Watch Video: 41-Year-Old Man Becomes First Indian To Win Election In Japan

As a proud moment for all Indians, a man from Pune has become the first Indian to contest and win an election in Japan. The man identified as Puranik Yogendra, goes by the nickname “Yogi”, has been elected to Tokyo’s Edogawa Ward assembly.

According to News18, Yogendra, a naturalized Japanese, secured 6,477 votes, the fifth highest of the 226,561 valid ballots cast, in the April 21 poll. “I want to be a bridge between Japanese and foreigners,” Puranik Yogendra, who was backed by the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, was quoted as saying.

According to the Japanese newspaper, Yogendra first arrived in Japan in 1997 as a university student in India. He returned two years later, and in 2001 went back to Japan to work as an engineer. He later worked for a bank and other companies and has resided in Edogawa Ward since 2005. "I felt the time had come for me to become Japanese. 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,” he added.

The special ward located in Tokyo Metropolis, Edogawa Ward has the highest number of Indian residents among Tokyo’s 23 wards with 4,300 or so Indian nationals registered, accounting for more than 10 percent of Indians living in Japan. Over 34,000 Indians live in Japan.