‘Delhi taught me art of bargaining’

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It’s a tale of India through a Japanese mind. Manga artist (manga in Japan means comics) Yukichi Yamamatsu was recently in the capital for the launch of his book Stupid Guy Goes to India, at the Delhi Comic Con. The book is a humorous tale about his travels in India.
In 2004, having never before left Japan, the 56-year-old author travelled to India, armed with little money and less English. The book is a true story of Yukichi’s adventures — from playing marbles, searching for bathrooms, betting on horses, visiting a brothel — and his madcap mission to sell Hindi translations of samurai manga on the streets of the capital.
“The book is an autobiographical account of my pleasant and not so pleasant experiences in India. Being a Japanese I only knew my language, so communicating in the local language to rent a room in Delhi, to buy anything or to talk to anyone was a very difficult situation. I have tried to share such experiences. In the book too, the Japanese protagonist’s wallet gets stolen at Chor Bazaar when he is buying shoes. He, then, has to fight his way through a herd of goats and several other hurdles before he manages to find the police station. In the end, of course, the cops refuse to file a complaint,” he shares.
It’s the country’s culture that fascinated the author. “I was thrilled by the culture and people of India. I feel Indians are very intelligent. When I first came here I didn’t know a single world in Hindi, but people in Delhi used to greet me with a simple and warm ‘Hi’ to make me feel comfortable and at home.”
And from Delhiites, the author learnt the art of bargaining, “People in Delhi are very friendly and fun. In Japan we can’t bargain for any goods, here in Delhi no matter what the price tag is, we can always negotiate the price with the shopkeeper. I learnt the art of bargaining from Delhiites. I really enjoy doing that now,” he laughs.