Muslims in Japan

Great news for all Muslims! In recent years, the Japanese government, keen to court Muslim travellers and international students, has unveiled a slew of Muslim-friendly initiatives deemed to enhance the convenience and increase the attractiveness of travelling and/or living in Japan. Not to be outdone, private enterprises have also followed suit, which means that Muslim visitors can go about their daily activities in Japan with minimal fuss. But just how does one find restaurants that have halal certification? Not forgetting worship facilities and prayer rooms? And how about leisure options? This handy guide will detail all the various Muslim-friendly initiatives here so that you do not have to do copious amounts of research!

Where to eat Japanese people love their pork and alcohol (even a condiment they frequently use – mirin – is a form of sweet rice wine), so it may seem a Herculean task for Muslim travellers to locate an eatery that has halal certification or a Muslim-friendly menu. Thankfully, nothing can be further away from the truth. Do you know that since June 1, 2016, Japan Airlines (JAL) has been serving halal-certified meals on all its outbound international flights from Japan? Just request for such a meal by e-mail or phone at least a day in advance before your departure, and you get to choose between the delectable hamburger steak with biryani or the equally mouth-watering butter chicken.

While in Japan, you can download useful apps like Halal Gourmet Japan that contain an impressive database of halal and vegetarian restaurants. In fact, coupled with information like the opening hours, address and contact details, Halal Gourmet Japan even features a map of the restaurant’s location, thus enabling you to find it easily! If you prefer to do things the old-school way, you can access the Halal Media Japan’s website (the same company that has come up with the Halal Gourmet Japan app) and download maps that feature Muslim-friendly restaurants in Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Beppu and Sapporo.

Where to pray Devoted Muslims pray five times a day, so finding easily accessible prayer rooms used to be rather difficult. Not anymore. Nowadays, major airports and hotels are equipped with prayer rooms as well as clear signage that point in the way of the Qibla direction (direction to face for Muslims during praying). Moreover, thanks to the growing numbers of foreign talents hailing from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh, many Islamic communities are currently flourishing in Japan. This means that you can also pray at stunning masjids (mosques) that evoke an air of elegance! If you make your way to Osaka, you may want to pay Osaka Masjid a visit – it is one of the largest mosques in Japan and is located strategically in the center of Osaka. There is even a mosque built by artisanal Turkish craftsmen called Tokyo Camii that is a stone’s throw away from Shinjuku, Tokyo. Drop by for a visit and be spellbound by how Tokyo Camii is architecturally similar to the world-renowned Blue Mosque in Istanbul!

How to shop For Muslims looking to stay in Japan for an extended period of time, shopping can be made hassle free when they download an app called Halal Minds. This is certainly a boon for travellers who cannot read kanji characters and thus cannot decipher whether the ingredients of the products they wish to purchase are halal (permitted) or haram (forbidden). Armed with a barcode scanner, Halal Minds allows you to scan the barcode of your chosen product and Voila! it will show you an English translation of the ingredients, along with an alert about whether it is halal, haram or syubhah (an in-between category used when it is hard to determine if halal methods have been used in its manufacture). No more looking helpless at the shopping aisle! What’s more, this app boasts a database of at least 500,000 foods, medicines and even cosmetics, thus ensuring that most of your shopping needs are addressed!

Where to play Fancy yourself a great singer and want to showcase your singing chops in front of your friends? Now you can sing to your heart’s content at various Karaoke Honpo Manekineko outlets in Tokyo! You will definitely have a memorable time as not only can you croon your favourite tunes and tuck into scrumptious halal cakes, fried chicken and hotdogs, but you can even fulfil your religious duties by using the prayer mats there! Fashion aficionados, on the other hand, can look forward to enjoying precious me time at Silis, a Muslim-friendly nail salon in Tennoji, Osaka. This salon only uses halal-certified cosmetics, so you can set your mind at ease and just concentrate on learning about the fashion-forward and funky nature of Japanese nail art!

As Japan aims to hit its target of 20 million visitors for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, more and more Muslim-friendly measures will be introduced. For a start, why not visit the Have Halal, Will Travel (HHWT) website, an exhaustive resource to help Muslims like you plan for your ideal trip?