Personal Profile

Education Degrees

Research Projects

Publications

Books

• Indian Migrants in Tokyo: A Study of Socio-Cultural, Religious and Working Worlds, Routledge, 2021 (Published: 30 October 2020) (link: https://www.routledge.com/Indian-Migrants-in-Tokyo-A-Study-of-Socio-Cultural-Religious-and-Working/Wadhwa/p/book/9780367896836)

Academic Journals

• In the age of COVID-19 – Indian restaurants and the Indian cooks in Japan, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Japan Focus, 2020. (link: https://apjjf.org/-Megha-Wadhwa/5479/article.pdf)

• Opportunities and Challenges in a Foreign Land: A Study of Indian Resident Community in Tokyo and its Vicinity, Occasional Papers, Institute of Asian Cultures, Sophia University, 2017.

•  Binding Indians Abroad: Religious Participation of Indian Migrants in Tokyo, The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies No. 34, 113-134, 2016.

• The Plight of Women in India, The Journal of Sophia Asian Studies No. 29, Sophia University, 85-92, 2011.

Other Publications

• Keerthana Mariappan: ‘People recognize the potential of India as an economic and cultural partner’, The Japan Times, September 13, 2020
• Rev. Cyril Veliath: ‘As Indians, we have plenty to be proud of’, The Japan Times, August 23, 2020
• Re-entry ban horror stories pile up in Japan’s Indian community, The Japan Times, August 10, 2020
• Pandemic leaves Indian cooks in Japan dependent on bosses and the state, The Japan Times, June 21, 2020
• Yogendra ‘Yogi’ Puranik – The first Indian voice in Tokyo politics, Published in The Japan Times, 6th February 2020.
• An Indian take on Japanese film, Published in The Japan Times 18^th March 2020.
• Indian women in Japan struggle to find their niche, The Japan Times, October 28, 2018.
• Chandru G. Advani, 1924-2018: ‘Uncle’ to Japan’s Indian community, The Japan Times, March 21, 2018.

• Surviving sexual assault in Japan, then victimized again, The Japan Times, September 28, 2017. (co-authored)
• How Modi-Abe bonhomie is giving a boost to India-Japan ties, The Mail Today, India, August 26, 2016.
• Sikhs hope temple in Tokyo sets the stage for tolerance and understanding, The Japan Times, August 25, 2016.
• Indians in Japan: A love story beset with challenges, The Japan Times, June 17, 2015.

Academic Conferences/Workshops/ Talks

• ‘A love story beset with Challenges – Indian Migrants in Japan’, Book Discussion, Institute of Asian, African and Middle Eastern Studies, Sophia University, January 9, 2020.
• Book Discussion – ‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo’, Institute of Comparative Culture, Sophia University, November 28^, 2020.
• ‘Amidst COVID-19 – Struggles of Indian cooks and Indian Restaurant owners in Tokyo’, A talk at ICU PRI, Peace and COVID-19 Series, International Christian University, 11 December 2020.
• ‘Good, Bad or Worst? Reproductive Health Challenges for Indian Migrant Women in Japan’, Sophia Open Research Week, November 7, 2020.
• Special Lecture Series: Vulnerable Populations in Japan under Covid-19, Discussion on ‘In the age of COVID-19 – Indian restaurants and the Indian cooks in Japan’, October 28, 2020.

• ‘A part, yet apart: The story of Indian migrant cooks in Japan’, ICAS 11, Leiden, Netherlands, 15-19 July, 2019.
• ‘Tales of Business Entrepreneurs and Professionals: Exploring the Working Experiences of Indian Immigrants in Japan’, The Global Conference on Indian Diaspora, The Hague, 5-7 October, 2017.
• ‘Challenges of Making Home Away From Home: Life of Indian Migrants in Tokyo’, Workshops of Graduate School of Global Studies, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan, 19 December, 2015.
• ‘Lives, Fears, Relations and Expectations - A Study of Indian Resident Community in Tokyo, Japan’, International Academic Conference on Social Science, Hong Kong, 16-18 December, 2015.

• ‘Being Indian, Becoming Japanese: Reflecting on the Shifting Identities and Challenges Faced by the Indian Migrants in Tokyo, Japan’, Indian Food Kaken ‘Food and Identity’, (近現代インドにおける食文化とアイデンティティに関する複合的研究), 15 November, 2015.
• ‘Redefining Indian Traditions & Creating New Spaces – Migrant Women of Indian Origin in Tokyo, Japan’, The 28^th Annual Conference of Japanese Association for South Asian Studies (JASAS), Tokyo, Japan, 26-27 September, 2015.
• ‘Opportunities and Challenges in a Foreign Land: A Study of the Indian Resident Community in Tokyo’, The International Convention of Asian Scholars, ICAS9, Adelaide, Australia, 5-9 July, 2015.

• ‘Redefining Traditions and Creating New Spaces –Migrant Women of Indian Origin in Tokyo, Japan’, 5^th Asia and Pacific Studies Congress, Paris, France, 9-11 September, 2015.
• ‘The Indian Community in Japan: A focus on the Lives, Fears, Problems, Relations, and Expectations of Indians in Tokyo’, The 27^th Annual Conference of Japanese Association for South Asian Studies (JASAS), Tokyo, Japan, 27-28 September, 2014.

Discussant

• ‘Commodities in Motion: Objects in (Trans)local Connections in Asia’. Association of Asian Studies (AAS in Asia), New Delhi, India, 5-7 July, 2018. (Chair and Commentator for the Panel).
• TINDAS International Workshop: Religion, Nation, and State in Modern India, Tokyo, Japan, 27March, 2019. (Discussant).

Workshops Organized

• ‘Migrant Stories of Indian Cooks and Afghani Women in Japan’. Workshop at Sophia University. Presentation paper title, ‘Labor laws vs the reality: Reflecting on the narratives of Indian cooks and Indian restaurant owners in Japan’ and Documentary Screening – ‘Daughters from Afghanistan’ by Megha Wadhwa in collaboration with Masako Tanaka and David H. Slater, 15 November, 2019. (http://icc.fla.sophia.ac.jp/html/events/2019-2020/191115_SORW_MeghaWadhwa.pdf)

• ‘Uprooting, Redefining, Resettling: A Graduate Student Workshop on Women Migrant Lives in Japan.
  Presentation paper title, ‘Striking a Balance in Negotiating Identities – Indian Migrant Women Creating New Spaces in Tokyo, Japan’, Workshops of Graduate School of Global Studies, Sophia University, 16 January, 2016.(https://dept.sophia.ac.jp/g/gs/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/20160123Uprootindge-resettling-redefine.pdf)

 Guest Lectures

•  ‘Indian migrants in Tokyo’, Ryukoku University (龍谷大学国際学部), October 27, 2020
•  インドと日本の間の異文化体験, Nanzan University, October 16, 2020
•  ‘Finding their Niche in Japan– Inspiring Stories of Indian Migrant Women’, 2019年度　第一回FINDAS若手研究者セミナー「南アジアの宗教コミュニティと生活世界―ジェンダーの観点から」October 26, 2019.
•  ‘Indian Community in Japan’, Department of Sociocultural Studies, Toyo University, 2017
•  ‘Identifying India: Social Stratification, Education, Religion, Women’, Global Studies Department, Sophia University, 2016
•  ‘National Cuisine of India?’, Faculty of Global Studies, Sophia University, 2017
•  ‘Indian Community in Japan’, Seisen University, 2016
•  ‘Women in India – Life and Traditions’, Sophia University, 2013

 Documentaries

• Daughters from Afghanistan. Filmed and edited by Megha Wadhwa. Based on Masako Tanaka’s research. Supported by David H. Slater. Duration 38 minutes. 2019.
• A 7-minute documentary on Indian Cooks in Tokyo. Filmed and edited by Megha Wadhwa. Supported by David H.Slater. Duration 7 minutes. 2020.