History of Nairsan

AN INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER IN JAPAN

A.M.Nair known as NAIRSAN
 

Youth leader, patriot, colonial Britain’s Bete Noir, technocrat, linguist, advisor to the Indian diplomatic mission in Tokyo and eventually a business entrepreneur, Ayyappanpillai Madhavan Nair.
 

Following his schooling in his home state of kerala, he graduated as a civil engineer from Kyoto University in Japan. After a short stint as an engineer he was drawn inexorably into Japanese politics in which he functioned sometime as a Ronin, that character of rightwing activists who sought no personal rewards but wielded the highest influence in the country.

Nairsan, as he is commonly known, has lived in Japan for over half a century and also spent several years in Manchuria. Here he was an unofficial advisor to the Manchukuo government and the Kwangtung army and also conducted anti-colonial movements against British imperialism in India and other parts of Asia.
 

His advisory function was invariably marked by complete objectivity, integrity and independence, quality which earned him deep respect all round. For various purposes of his dealings with them the Japanese government recognized him as a personally equivalent in status initially to a major general and later to a lieutenant general.
 

Waging a most hazardous one-man crusade against the wool trade from Mongolia and Tibet to England, he successfully stopped the shipment of the goods to Manchester and Lancashire. During his Mongolian adventures which took him to regions some of which no other Indian has ever visited, he assumed many secret identities - a living Buddha, a camel caravan expert and a Muslim priest among them.
 

With Japan’s entry into the second world, Nairsan joined the Indian independence league in Japan and the south East Asian countries under the leadership of Rash Behari Bose – the legendary revolutionary in exile. Here he served as co-founder of the league and the chief link between the Indian freedom movement and the Japanese government.
 

In their forthright approach these memoirs constitute a valuable contribution to the history of India’s freedom struggle abroad.

In recognition of his dedicated and sustained contribution to the strengthening of friendly and cordial relations between India and Japan, Mr. Nair was awarded the exalted decoration of the order of merit of the sacred treasure (Kun zuihosho) by emperor Hiorohito in November 1984.