{"id":81265,"date":"2018-09-22T16:06:48","date_gmt":"2018-09-22T23:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=81265"},"modified":"2018-09-22T16:06:48","modified_gmt":"2018-09-22T23:06:48","slug":"city-sees-big-increase-in-sri-lankan-residents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/09\/22\/city-sees-big-increase-in-sri-lankan-residents\/","title":{"rendered":"City sees big increase in Sri Lankan residents"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Yomiuri Shimbun\u00a0Courtesy The Japan News<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

Umesh Rajapaksha, left, and other Sri Lankans serve homemade curry at an event at Bannaji temple in Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, on July 15.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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The Yomiuri Shimbun<\/span>ASHIKAGA, Tochigi \u2014 The number of Sri Lankan residents of Ashikaga, Tochigi Prefecture, has increased rapidly recently, surpassing the Chinese as the largest contingent of foreign residents in the city.<\/p>\n

As of August, there were 704 Sri Lankans living in Ashikaga, many of whom moved there because someone from their hometown who had previously emigrated told them it was a great place to live.<\/p>\n

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Opportunities for exchanges between this little Sri Lanka\u201d community and the city\u2019s Japanese residents have begun to expand.<\/p>\n

I want the people of Ashikaga to understand what\u2019s good about Sri Lanka,\u201d said Umesh Rajapaksha, 35, a Sri Lankan resident of the city\u2019s Aioicho district, at an event where people could sample traditional dishes from his hometown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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