RAJGIR: Rajgir is steeped in history. It was one of the early Magadhan capitals and a spiritual place associated with Buddhism and is close to two of the behemoths of Buddhist centres — Bodh Gaya and Nalanda University. And it has a very close Japan connect too.
When the venue for the Asia Cup hockey was announced, some of the Japanese players turned to the internet to find out about ‘Rajgir’. To be fair to them, the city, a 150-minute drive on a good day from Patna airport, doesn’t lend itself automatically to be a sporting destination (though it is changing of late). The place does have historical importance — it’s cultural, spiritual and educational significance goes back more than 2,500 years ago.
But when Japan’s players first tried to read up about Rajgir on the internet, they were intrigued about what they found. They were a bit taken aback when Ippei Fujimoto, who had been here earlier with the women’s team, conveyed the message that they couldn’t drink alcohol (Bihar is a dry state). Transforming spirit to spiritualism was easy.
Soon enough, though, the absence of alcohol didn’t deter them because ‘this is a place rooted in Buddhism’ and there is a distinct Japanese connect. Raiki Fujishima & Co wanted to experience that first hand, so they undertook a spiritual journey to the Vishwa Shanti Stupa, a pagoda representative of world peace. The monument was built by the Japanese (in 1969).
The plan was to be guided by a Japanese priest who has called Rajgir home for the last 50 years. “The priest (Buddhist monk T Okonogi) came and visited the team in the ground a few days ago,” Fujimoto, the assistant coach as well as the official translator, said. “He spent some time and passed on a few messages.” The team has also bonded with some Japanese tourists ‘because it’s easy to get close to Japanese people because of Buddhism’.