Ajinomoto India factory.

Andha Japan companies-ah…ipdi ponga (Head this way to reach the Japanese companies),” says a guard. He might as well have said just ‘Japan’. For, OneHub Chennai – a sprawling 400-acre project – is practically a Japanese enclave, housing companies such as Hitachi, Takasago and Ajinomoto.

“The main challenge before us is to dispel common misconceptions by giving facts to the general public,” says Mishuku.

monosodium glutamate (MSG) Enjoy the fried rice at the small Chinese restaurant down the road? Its flavours have probably been rounded and amplified by Ajinomoto’s MSG.