Shangrila Tours, Himalyan Journeys, Rum Doodle
For over 35 years Shangrila Tours and Himalayan Journey's, run by Hanji and Yukiko Okawara, has been bringing Japanese tourists to Nepal. The two companies together employ more than 80 people and has been hailed as one of the most professional in the line. However it's the 40,000 ? ft Rum Doodle Restaurant and Bar in Thamel which the couple established in 1979 that has gained international reputation. It's the only bar in the world where you'll find the signatures of every Everest summiteer since Tenzing and Hillary. The Okawaras have long considered Nepal their second home and say, "Our people share the same mind and heart."

KIRAN PANDAY

Masala Beads
Eriko Yoshida came to Nepal as a student in the 90s, fell in love with a local and chose to settle down in Nepal. Ten years ago, she along with her husband Pemba Gurung opened up Masala Beads, a popular bric-a-brac shop in Thamel. Today, the shop is popular among teenagers and also exports locally made accessories abroad. A mother of a two-year-old daughter, Eriko feels very much at home in Nepal. "For me, there is no difference between Nepal and Japan, I love Nepal with my heart." She says in fluent Nepali.

MIN BAJRACHARYA

U Caf?
Ayumi Matsuda runs U Caf? in Sanepa with her family. She and her husband followed her sister, who is married to a Nepali, four years ago and decided to stay on. The caf?, which opened about three years ago offers organic food and Japanese home cooking. Matsuda, her husband and Aya- their 18-month-old baby, are well settled and happy. "Business is doing so well and this is a great place to raise kids. We are in no hurry to leave Nepal," says Matsuda.

KIRAN PANDAY

Paubha painter
The first time Kazuko Asano watched a documentary on Nepali thangka paintings she knew she had to learn the ancient art. She came to Nepal to find a teacher and learn the techniques of paubha painting, which was called thangka after the art form was taken to Tibet from Kathmandu. After more than five years and hundreds of patient hours under the tutelage of one of the most renowned masters of paubha art Lok Chitrakar, she is now an accomplished artist. "Painting a thangka is very difficult, but it is also like meditation. One cannot produce a good painting if one does not feel good inside," says Kazukosan.

Tsubaki
Twenty-three years ago, Asako Shrestha came to Nepal with her husband. "I came here as a young trekker in 1978. That was before I met my husband, so when we decided to move back it wasn't that hard because I already knew a bit about Nepali culture." She and her husband spent a year in Japan and moved back to Nepal to live with the family. Her parents have visited her many times in Nepal and she tries to visit them once every couple of years. In 1998 she opened Tsubaki hair salon in Tripureswar, which she runs with her sister-in-law.