PM Narendra Modi's Tokyo diary

Narendra Modi has been in a good mood in Japan, possibly because he feels he is among friends. At Kyoto, he posed with students, shook journalists' hands amid some banter and advised photographers which angle to shoot from. He also pulled the ears of a little boy in the crowd, very different from the combative politician Indian audiences are used to seeing.

At the Kinkaku-ji temple in Kyoto, Modi found a spot to pose with the chief priest, with the spectacular golden pavilion in the background and joked with the priest about the similarity in their names ("Modi, Mori"). And when Japanese PM Shinzo Abe tried to explain the significance of the lotus motif at the Toji temple, Modi replied that he knew all about it, since it was the symbol of his party. Abe, for his part, confessed that this was only the second time he had visited the famous UNESCO site - the last time was as a schoolkid.

While Kyoto was a relatively less restricted environment, the organisers in Tokyo made a clear distinction between on-board and other media. On-board media - mostly state-owned -- are those who travel on the president's plane, while the rest make their own way to Japan. Only the onboarders were allowed to attend Monday morning's functions, leaving the rest ruminating over how things had changed under the new dispensation.

Modi's rock star status was visible for all to see. At public functions, Indian tourists - some carrying flags - made their appearance, chanting "Vande Mataram!". As his car pulled out of the Kyoto hotel, a crowd gathered to wave goodbye. The man did not disappoint - the contrast with the reticent Manmohan Singh was apparent at every turn.

Modi played a few notes on the flute at his interaction with children at the Taimei Elementary in Tokyo on Monday, and reportedly told them a story of how Krishna used to attract cows by playing the wind instrument. Pictures were released of the Indian PM interacting with the little kids. Perhaps he was warming up for his Teachers' Day address to Indian students.



This popularity seems to extend to the Japanese man - and woman - on the street. A portly young Japanese woman made her way to within inches of Modi - the security here is either unobstrusively superefficient or virtually absent - beamed, and waved a couple of plastic Indian flags. A staffer at Kyoto railway station inquired eagerly if Modi had partaken of drinks with Abe as  part of the banquet. And shouts of "Modi san!" were heard at the temple visits.