This long-term research began with Wadhwa’s doctoral studies at Sophia University and has grown into an extended exploration of the lives of Indian migrants in Japan. Her work looks at how migrants navigate socio-cultural, religious, and working worlds, and how issues of identity, class, gender, and community are negotiated in the context of Tokyo.

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The project culminated in a book, Indian Migrants in Tokyo: A Study of Socio-Cultural, Religious and Working Worlds (Routledge, 2021). The book was widely reviewed and recognized for shedding light on an overlooked community in Japan’s migration story.

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This research remains ongoing, as Wadhwa continues to trace the evolving stories of Indian professionals, workers, and families in other locations in Japan — their struggles for recognition, their community-building practices, and the ways they create a sense of home in Japan. This project has not only produced academic contributions but has also sparked broader public discussion through media engagement, lectures, and community work.  

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Some selected book review of ‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo’ (Routledge:2021)

 

Farrer, James. ‘Review: Indian Migrants in Tokyo: A Study of Socio-Cultural, Religious, and Working Worlds’, The Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 50, Issue 2, 485 – 489, June 01, 2024

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Megha Wadhwa's Indian Migrants in Tokyo is essential reading for scholars of migration in Japan and a useful comparative case study for scholars of migration to other regions. It is the first in-depth ethnography of Indian migrants in the world's third-largest economy and one of only a few full- length monographs focusing on a single migrant group in Japan.

 

Kingston, Jeff. ‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo: A Study of Socio-Cultural, Religious, and Working Worlds’, Transitions: Journal of Transient Migration, Volume 6, 119 – 122, December 22, 2022 

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This book should be mandatory reading for Japanese policymakers and employers because it makes a strong case for doing more to lessen the challenges facing these migrants and to compete with other nations that offer more appealing conditions. Well-researched and written, with numerous images, this book is also highly recommended for anyone interested in migration, globalization, Indian identity and exploring a rarely observed side of Japan.

 

 

Baas, Michiel. ‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo’ International Institute for Asian Studies

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Wadhwa does not only focus on more recent migrants but also offers important ethnographic detail on earlier migrants, capturing earlier struggles and raising questions of inter-community integration.

 

Christopher, Stephen. ‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo: A Study of Socio-Cultural, Religious, and Working Worlds’, Social Science Japan Journal, December 3, 2021

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Wadhwa’s monograph will be of interest to scholars of the Indian diaspora, the largest diaspora in the world. Although the diaspora is well-researched in places like South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, and the West (Vertovec 2000), there is a scholarly gap in our understanding of Indians in East Asia.

 

Jones, Colin P.A. ‘Book Review: Indian Migrants in Tokyo’, Nikkei Asia, May 27, 2021

 

Megha Wadhwa's new book on Japan's small but growing Indian community is a welcome delight. It provides a fascinating, important and different perspective both on Japan and how non-Japanese fare with life there. 

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Parr, Patrick. ‘Indian Migrants in Tokyo’ sheds light on an overlooked community’, The Japan Times, January 23, 2021

 

In this age of information, which bombards us with facts and figures, ethnographic books like Wadhwa's are vital in understanding the human pulse that keeps our societies going.