Anushree: Yeah. Namasté. My name is Anushree. I'm from India. I'm doing my PhD here. I'm a second-year student. My major is Japanese literature and my current research is on image of India in Japanese literature.

Interviewer: Do you have a specific author you are studying?

Anushree: Yes. I'm actually but analyzing two authors: one is Hotta Yoshie, and the other is Fujiwara Shinya. Hotta went to India in 1956 and Fujiwara went in 1969 and again in 1972. So both of them, after coming back to Japan, they wrote books: Hotta wrote Indo de Kangaeta Koto, and Fujiwara wrote Indo Hourou. So I'm analyzing, basically I'm analyzing these two books by these two authors. Yes.

Interviewer: So, now you are studying in Japan. When did you come to Japan?

Anushree: Hmm, It was quite long back. I came in 2003, April 2003. Yeah, that is six years back. Yes.

Interviewer: So, what’s your first impression of Japan?

Anushree: Japan. Hmm, there was. . . there were quite a lot of things that impressed me. The first thing about Japan's cleanliness. The moment I landed on the airport everything was so neat and clean and everything was just like in its place, so I just loved that thing. That was the first impression which I had about Japan. Yeah.

Interviewer: So your first impression of Japan is quite good. So do you have something bad about Japan? Bad impression.

Anushree: Yeah. That's right. Bad impression? Uh, initially I did notice much but like a. . . since it's been six years since I'm here. I found it a little difficult to interact to Japanese people, to make friends with them. It takes long of. . . a lot of time and load of, lots of efforts to become friends with Japanese people. So you. . . you become friends, you gradually become friends, but not soon. It takes a very long of time in order to gain confidence of Japanese people. Yeah.

Interviewer: To you the Japanese society is very different from your country. So the next is. . . . Can I ask you about your country or where you're from?

Anushree: I'm from India. Yeah.

Interviewer: Then which part of India you. . . ?

Anushree: It's New Delhi. The capital. Yes.

Interviewer: New Delhi. It's rather the northern part of India.

Anushree: That's right. Delhi is in the northern India.

Interviewer: It's February here in Japan now, so do you feel it cold in Japan in winter?

Anushree: Yeah. That's right. I feel it cold here and actually the winters are quite long here. In India the winters are small, actually in Delhi. So the winter lasts only for January and February, uh, from December to January. From February, it's already spring. But in Japan, the winters are quite longer to like. . . from November, they will start November, December until March or April. Even, Delhi, April, it's quite cold. So winters are quite longer and I get __ by the end of the winter, actually. Yes.