NAMASTE FOODS - A Home away from Home for Indians in Tokyo

Namaste Foods at Higashi Ojima – Indian spice, grocery and food shop

I was an occasional customer at Namaste foods at Higashi Ojima when I was staying at company apartment at Kiba. Bala-san used to help me to get the Apa Kabar? International prepaid telephone calling card and tell the number over phone. Higashi Ojima was not so far away from Kiba. It is only a 30 minutes by Tokyo Metro trains. I need to take Tozai line from Kiba to Monzen nakacho then from there change to Toei Oedo line up to Morishita. From Morishita, I will move to Toei Shinjuku line to reach at Higashi Ojima. Since Balasan’s apartment is near to Namaste foods he did not mind to help me.

The meaning of ‘Apa kabar’ is ‘What is the news’ in Indonesian language. Apa kabar card is an attractive selling item for many of the Asian expatriates in Tokyo. The cost of one Apa kabar card is 2400 Yen at Namaste foods. With one apa kabar card I can call to my home at India for 6 hours 40 minutes (to mobile phone) if I use the Yahoo BB landline phone. When I moved to Higashi Ojima on September 2008, one of my problems, the availability of Indian food is almost solved. The Namaste foods at Higashi Ojima have many Indian food and snack items at their store.

Namaste foods is owned by a Japanese man who like India and Indian Culture. Running a grocery stores like an Indian shop at Higashi Ojima is not only a business for him. More than business it is his passion towards India that interests him to help the Indian expatriate society in Tokyo. It is a service he does to the Indians living in Higashi Ojima and the near places.

The most important thing is the owner of the Namaste foods ‘Katouno Tatsuhiro-san can speak Hindi apart from his mother tongue Japanese. He is also good at his English skills. One day I was surprised to hear him talking in Hindi to one of his customers over phone.

Namaste Foods have many Indian food items like Ready to Eat brands from MTR, Priya etc. MTR is one of the largest selling Ready to Eat brand in India and outside India. Sambar Rice (Curry Rice), Kesaribhath, Channa masala, Dal fry, Palak Paneer, Rasagulla, Mixed vegetable curry, Muttar paneer, are some of them I used to buy.


The snacks from India like the murukku, mixture, moong dal, Raita boondi, Shahi garden, Nylon sev, Haldiram’s masala peanuts, masala channa, etc are also available from Namaste foods. Maaza mango juice is really cheaper in Namste foods. One liter bottle of maaza mango juice costs only 200 Yen at Namaste foods.

Katouno-san told he will soon start home delivery service and this will help many Indian expatriates and Japanese people who wish to try Indian food to order the items from home. This will enable the Indian people living away from Higashi Ojima to get the Indian food delivered at their door step. The shipping charge is free if the total purchase is more than 10,000 Yen. The margin for free shipment is very attractive as the food items purchased at home for one month will generally cross this amount. The delivery will be through Fukuyama Transporting Co., Ltd. The payment as per the information from the website can be Cash on delivery or Bank transfer. Please check from the website for the details of bank for bank transfer.

Namaste foods at Higashi Ojima is easy to access. The Indian store Namaste foods is near to the Higashi Ojima station in Toei Shinjuku line. After getting down at Higashi Ojima station you have to pass through the Ojima exit. It is near to Shin Ohashi street. Stepping down the staircases of the railway station, Namaste food is just less than one minute walk. The store is on the ground floor (First floor in Japan) of the building No. 9-3-12. The address and telephone numbers are given below:

NAMASTE FOODS
Higashi Ojima Metoroad 18
1F, 9-3-12, Ojima, Koto-ku, Tokyo.
Tel: 03-5836-6638, Fax: 03-5836-6639
Email: shop@namaste-foods.com
Or info@namaste-foods.com
Website: www.namaste-foods.com

Contact for Indian foods now!

I highly recommend shopping at Namaste foods, Higashi Ojima. Katouno-san is very kind and well mannered gentle man who possess good knowledge about India, Indians and the culture of India. He had visited India many times and is fascinated by Indian culture.