In 1970, there were only 2 mosques in all of Japan, now there are over 200. The Tokyo Mosque, despite the grand Turkish design, the mosque hides between apartment blocks in the quiet residential neighbourhood of Yoyogi Uehara.
Al-Jazeera Construction of the current incarnation of the mosque was completed in 2000, but the mosque has a much longer history. It was in the 1930s when Japan first saw a significant resident Muslim population and the first mosques were established. The Nagoya Mosque was built in 1931 and the Kobe Mosque in 1935 by Indian-Muslim migrants.
Tatar Muslim migrants escaping the Russian revolution made up the largest ethnic group in Japan by the 1930s and established the original Tokyo Mosque in 1938.
Hans Martin Kramer, a professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Heidelberg and an expert on religion in Japan, considers this to be the most prominent mosque in Japan, one that was “not only supported by the Japanese government, but also financed by Japanese companies, most notably Mitsubishi, and its opening ceremony was attended by dignitaries and diplomats from both Japan and the Islamic World”.
While the Tokyo Mosque does not have the same support and contacts with Japanese government and large conglomerates in contemporary times, the mosque was rebuilt using funds from the Turkish government and is both a religious venue and an ethno-cultural space hosting wedding ceremonies, fashion shows, plays, exhibitions and conferences.
Marriage and conversion
Away from the tourists, marble floors and ornate interiors in a small alley around the corner from Tokyo Mosque is Dr Musa Omer at the Yuai International School. The school is loud, unpretentious, chaotic and teeming with children. It is a Saturday and the school has activities and classes from 10am until 8pm. While the leadership at the school is looking towards offering full-time education in the near-future, it is currently limited to offering Saturday classes ranging from Islamic studies and Arabic, to karate and calligraphy.
The school is run by the Islamic Centre of Japan (ICJ), a post-WWII Muslim institution established in 1966. Omer – an advisor to the Saudi Ambassador and who has twice served as the Sudanese Ambassador to Japan – is its acting chairman.
On this day, Omer is preparing to marry a young couple in his small office – a Saudi man and a Japanese woman.
In a brief interlude, the woman is asked whether this is her first introduction to Islam, and she replies that it isn’t. Her relationship with the Saudi man started online two years ago and they decided to get married. Omer, with long-established links to the Saudi embassy, was contacted to assist the couple in arranging the wedding.
As the Japanese bride converts, she joins a tiny group of Japanese Muslims. In the absence of official statistics on Muslims in Japan, demographic estimates range from between 70,000 to 120,000 Muslim residents with about 10 percent of that number being Japanese, in a country with an overall population of more than 127 million.
According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), the population of foreign workers in Japan has nearly doubled in the last 20 years, and reached more than two million at the end of 2011.
Yoshio Sugimoto describes how the population of foreign workers, which includes Muslims from Pakistan and Bangladesh for example, increased in the late 1980s and early ’90s as visa waiver programmes were introduced by the Japanese government to address an ageing workforce and a shortage of labour.
Monitoring mosques
Omer, on the other hand, came to study architecture on a Japanese Embassy scholarship in 1970 after founding the Japan-Sudan Friendship Society in 1964 in Khartoum, Sudan. He speaks with pride at how Islam has grown and laid institutional foundations in Japan.
Omer is an influential figure in the institutionalisation in post-WWII Japan with deep roots in the country, privileged position as a former diplomat, and contacts in the Gulf. He has helped various groups raise funds to establish mosques and institutions. Despite that, the Islamic Centre of Japan itself does not have a mosque of its own.
Activities for children in the school, which was established in 2011, are far more important than a mosque, he says. “You can pray anywhere.”
The ICJ has had to cut its annual spending by almost half since the early 1990s, and currently only employs one full-time staff member, down from 25, with its funds coming primarily from donations by individuals in the Gulf.
Some researchers have highlighted negative stereotypes of Islam that Muslims have been confronted with in Japan since the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
Despite the Tokyo Metropolitan Police being absolved of any wrongdoing by the Tokyo District Court in January, the UN Human Rights Committee has expressed concerns in a recent report about the systematic surveillance of Muslims and mosques in Japan.
“Police stationed agents at mosques, followed individuals to their homes, obtained their names and addresses from alien registration records, and compiled databases profiling more than 70,000 individuals,” according to an article in the Asia-Pacific Journal Japan Focus. “In some cases, the police actually installed surveillance cameras at mosques and other venues.”
While Islam may not have the same footprint in Japan as other religions such as Buddhism and Christianity, knowledge of it and the Prophet Muhammad here can be traced back to the 8th century.
Serious and sustained engagement with the Muslim world began for Japan as a part of its global outreach in the early Meiji period (1868-1890), with trade and information gathering missions sailing towards the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East.
Verifiable accounts of Muslims entering Japan can be placed in the same period with records of Indian merchants and Malay-Indian sailors working in ports in the Japanese cities of Yokohama and Kobe.
The Tokyo Mosque, Omer, the Islamic Centre of Japan, and the children of the Islamic school are the contemporary chapter of this old and under-researched history of Islam and Japan.
I hope Japan will stand up to this. If not, their wonderful culture and ways of life will be destroyed.
Please Japan, be brave.
ボニーさん、こんにちは。 CBJです、お久しぶりです。 Corporatists and government in Japan are stupidly pushing their agenda of transforming our country to Islam-Friendly society. Current administration is seeking to accept more and more foreign labors and tourists among which many are Muslim. I am trying to remind our fellow Japanese how dangerous it is to accept Islam and Halal. Your website is a great source of information as always. Thank you and God bless!
CB, we are all very sad to hear that about Japan. They will rue the day they decided to let so many in.
You are right about the Japan corporatists and the government being too friendly. My sushi got spoiled when I checked the Makuhari Messe calendar and saw November 26-27 has a halal expo. What’s the best, but firm way to say to these savages leave Japan alone?
so they’ve known about mo since the 8th century. so what? i can imagine how that went over with the Shoguns
I think Japan is getting a big message but is not understanding it
9.2 earthquake in 2011 that shifted the Japanese Mainland 8 feet
this year Japan has been slammed with several super typhoons
Understand yet Japan?
could be just coinky dinik but I doubt it
I think you wanted Japan to dismiss the Islamic poison out of their country with which I agreed totally . We have in our countries much more of this poison and it is more urgent that we ( including you in the Netherlands) to expel them out .
If that does not make sense Iam sorry
of course it does.
I always respected the Japanese for their strong history of Bushido and the samurai. They even exalted their emperor as a divine god and the people’s first duty was to him. How then can these proud people bear to have this bullsh!t in their country? Let’s hope that legions of adepts at karate perform a spinning back kick on this nonsense and kick it out of Japan.
Never mind Ebola, Islam is the most dangerous and poisonous virus of them all.
Blow up a Shinto shrine and see how many Muslims are still there. I taught English in Tokyo for a year. My students explained how they put up with other Asians, but they don’t necessary like it. I saw the Japanese gangs. I was also caught in an anti-American riot. When the Muslims decide they own Japan, they’re not the only ones that will be chopping off heads.
The little terrorist in training is giving the ISIS salute!! These filthy animals need to be destroyed every where they go!
I really don’t understand why the world treats Islam in a special way in spite of being an ideology of terror not accepting other ideologies but on the contrary fighting them
There are Muslims in Japan possibly natives or immigrants .the question is if some native Muslims of the Islamic countries convert to Buddhism or Hindu what would the case be . Surely they will be killed with no ear to condemnation from Japan.
Secondly can the Japanese build holy places of their own for praying In the Islamic wirkd . Surely they cannot and all Muslim countries will refuse that .
It is absolutely insane that the most terroristic and most ridiculous nations are imposing their will on the whole world and are able not to treat them the same way .
Is it money ? , no , the west and Japan are far richer
Is it the ideology ? No , It is the worst unacceptable ideology
Viruses will ALWAYS replicate and spread.
Islam is the equivalent of the 1918 Spanish Influenza Epidemic.
Even though this bust the myths of “no muslims in Japan” it highlights the vast differences in culture between Japan and Western Europe (and America).
1. The Japanese are proud of their race, religion, culture, and country. They have not been brainwashed from birth that every other race, religion, culture, and country is ‘equal’ to theirs. They do not believe in multicultural crap and they view with contempt and suspicion everything that isn’t Japanese.
2. The Japanese are not politically correct. They think they are better than everyone else and they could care less if that makes them ‘racists’ or ‘bigots’. They also don’t seem to care when their muslims complain that 70,000 (of 120,000) are under surveillance.
3. The Japanese are a “Law and Order” nation. If people misbehave (especially foreigners and minorities) they are dealt with harshly. There are NOT different applications of law for ordinary Japanese and ‘special’ minority groups. If anything, a minority group (especially a foreign one) is held to a higher standard than ordinary Japanese.
3. The Japanese don’t like immigration or immigrants. That combined with their pride, anti-PC attitude, and no nonsense law enforcement means that they have some of the strictest immigration laws on earth. Any immigrant who misbehaves in any way is likely to be deported (or imprisoned) immediately. Illegal immigration is practically non-existent.
4. The Japanese have a very strong work ethic. Like all industrial nations they have welfare, universal healthcare, and disability programs, but ordinary Japanese will not use these programs unless they must, out of pride and shame. Muslims in Japan can not count on the Japanese welfare system to support them from cradle to grave like Europe and England do. It’s hard to out breed the kuffar when the state won’t support you, your 4 wives, or your dozen children. If you are not a citizen and indigent, then you are worthless and deported along with your welfare sucking family (what a novel idea). There is no ‘universal right to family’ or ‘persecuted refugee’ status in Japan.
(I’m sure you can come up with 50 more examples.)
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So even though there are ‘some’ (.1%) muslims in Japan they still don’t have the problems that other places have. Also note that muslims are almost always peaceful when they are this low (by percentage). There is a huge difference in how muslims act when they become 1%, 3%, 6%, 10%, or 20%. Judging by Japan’s culture it seems that muslims will NEVER be more than a .2% even over the next thousand years.
And one last thought: Islam and muslims are inherently pathetic and inept. They can ONLY cause problems in a culture that is ALREADY self destructing and filled with TRAITORS. They are the opportunistic infections that degrade an already sick or injured culture. They are the maggots that feed on an already dead, dying, or decaying culture. A strong healthy culture sloughs off islam like most people fight off the common cold. Islam (and muslims) can’t produce or invent anything of value. They can only suck the life force from a more productive (non-muslim) culture.
I lived in Japan for two years. True that. Especially the second #3. Experienced it personally.
And there were a few Japanese muzzies that attempted an attack on the U.S. Embassy during the attack on Benghazi, if you will recall.
what’s wretched is that Japan’s birthrate is so low, right now there are more Japanese in “Depends” than in diapers. By 2020 it’s proposed that as a race it will be on the road to virtual extinction. As muzzies breed like rabbits (sorry to offend cute bunnies) their presence may ultimately be Japan’s demise.
Japanese strict immigration laws and the fact that the Japanese has much more common sense than the 75-90.5% of the West will save the day.
Confused gov official – “Is that a pig-man-bear in Japan?”
Al Gore – “No stupid, that’s a muslim (also known as manbearpig).”
Japan needs second invasion and occupational government of the USA (i mean not the United States of Ahlusunna of Barry, Clinton, Bush jr., Nixon and everyone else trying to make friends with muslims, but United States of America with someone islamohating in charge) with anti-islamic reforms. Lol, just kiddin’.
What the heck, Japanese folks? Don’t you realize islam is a poison to your souls? Buddhist, Christian, Shinto? Maybe! But muslim? Islam is no different than Aum Shinrikyo. Oh wait, there’s a difference: Aum Shinrikyo pseudo-Buddhist violent death cult was banned just after ONE terrorist attack in Tokyo underground with use of sarin gas, but islam is legal with 20+ thousand terror attacks since 9/11, thanks to a few factors:
1) petroleum corporations and oil lobby killing things like cold nuclear synthesis fusion reactors to keep profits flow, so you are dependent on fuel from islamofascist countries (Saudia, Qataristan, etc).
2) 1.5 billion followers worldwide when Aum was almost exclusively Japanese with a few hundred members.
🙁
So, 70,000-120,000 muzz-maggots in Japan out of a population of 127 million? That is 70,000-120,000 too many.
However, only 10% are native ethnic Japanese. With few Japanese converting to Islam (and apparently not that many “born” muzz) it looks as if the muzz problem is from immigration.
I wonder if the remaining 90% are Japanese citizens/passport holders and how easy if “push comes to shove” if Japan would deport them?
Japan’s immigration laws are ten times more strict than ours are.
Thank you for that info BNI. I know you have lived in Japan (I have not). So, with this information that the laws in Japan are more strict… then this is good. I’m hoping this means that since only 10% of Japan’s muslims are ethnic born Japanese… that means the remaining number could… what??… I’m hoping be more easily deported or kicked out of Japan because they are not and cannot become Japanese nationals with a Japanese passport.
When you lived in Japan as an American… were you told or notified of things that could cause your residency/student visa/(whatever documents you were using to stay there) to be revoked and get you sent back to America?
BNI and other sites posted within the past year… how a Saudi muslim destroyed a historic Buddhist/Shintoist ? shrine of much cultural and archaeological importance. Did he get deported or asked to leave as a result of this vandalism?
And still disappointed there are 70-120,000 muslims in Japan. Way too many.
Arjay, I never followed up on what happen to the guy who did that. You can be sure he didn’t get let off with a slap on the wrist.
I knew of fellow female foreign students who worked part time at night in hostess bars (they weren’t prostitutes, and only sat at tables with the male guests and poured their drinks, laughed a lot, and let the Japanese practice their English with them). When police discovered they were working in Japan on student visas, they were deported the very next day. I had to renew my student visa at the immigration office in Japan every 6 months and if I didn’t, they would have deported me, immediately, too. Naturally getting arrested for anything would also get you kicked out.
At the end of your student visa (1 year), you had to leave Japan and reapply for an extension from outside of Japan. They are vey strict about that stuff or at least they used to be back in the ’70’s and ’80’s. Don’t know about now.
Thank you BNI for that insight that could only come to someone who lived in Japan. Hopefully, the Japanese if they still have such strict laws as they did in the ’80s… will apply them to muzlim infestation in Japan.
Thanks again for sharing your experience of living in Japan… and though the details are unknown about the Saudi who destroyed the Shrine… it is good to know the Japanese will not give him a free pass.
Muzz Maggots… LOL
You will find Nico that commentators on BNI and other similar sites have very interesting terms to describe the followers of the most destructive political death cult in history. Anything to let it be known that this cult does not and cannot be given any respect or legitimacy. Think of a term you’d like to use to describe these slime creatures.
Muslims are becoming more visible than every before in Japan. In my recent trip to an Aeon mall, a group of five muslim women came in to shop for food. Fingers crossed they were just tourists, but that fits in with seeing more of them settling down in the poorer areas of Tokyo. Noticed that in parts of Japan they hold open mosques to practice da’wa, thankfully enough Japanese people smell the halal – b.s and don’t go.
The most generous estimate, 120,000 muslims (12,000 native Japanese) is outnumbered by Japanese Mormons (about 130,000) and Japanese Jehovah’s Witnesses (about 220,000).
Interesting how that little boy is pictured using the ISIS finger up pose.
You’re right. I missed that.
I also noticed that ISIS symbol. I wonder who the guy is sitting next to the boy. Could be his father.
It’s a good thing the Japanese have a very strong surveillance on them and muslims can’t complain about it.
Oh well, another country crossed off my list of possible places to move if Great Britain is turned into another Islamic cess-pit , which is very likely unless things start changing here pretty quickly.
I wonder what the weather’s like in Myanmar ?!
Evil will try to spread wherever it can.
Stand firm JAPAN and expell this venom from your veins
I agree with you but an innocent question why don’t you expel the venom from your veins first
SodJack your statement doesn’t make sense.
explain