Ashida Katsunori Highlights Fish-and-Rice Ties Between Bengal and Japan

What changed

Japan’s Deputy Consul General in Kolkata, Ashida Katsunori, joined a Bengali maha bhoj, wearing a Shibori dhuti and eating fish, green chillies and spicy condiments. He handled the fish bones with ease and described Bengal and Japan as cultures “made of fish and rice.”

Why it matters

This was a small cultural encounter, but a vivid one. Katsunori did not simply appear at a meal; he took part in it with the appetite and fluency of someone willing to meet a place on its own terms. His reaction, “muh mein pani aga”, made the exchange feel less like ceremony and more like genuine enjoyment.

The symbolism is straightforward: food offered a shared language between Bengali culture and Japan, with fish and rice at its centre. It does not amount to a policy announcement, trade agreement or measurable public response. What it does show is how an informal meal can make diplomatic connection tangible: a thali, a dhuti and a willingness to tackle the bones.