I would like to preface this post by stating that I do not welcome questions regarding my religion, so I’d rather not be asked about it. This is not out of shame, but rather, my preference for privacy.
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Whether you’re Muslim or otherwise, if you are a Malaysian, it is easy to immediately recognize the difficulties that Muslims would face in Japan. We kind of have to, right? We were raised in a multiracial and multicultural country, and thus have cultural radars practically built into us.
Thus, when we see someone, we immediately know the dos-and-don’ts of their culture. Now, we may not have in depth knowledge about it, but we would know enough to be aware of the ground rules.
So when we go to Japan, we can quickly grasp the challenges that it would present to Muslims. Because it is a non-Muslim country, the first two issues are the most obvious ones: a lack of prayer rooms and halal food. These alone are challenging enough if you’re a Muslim travelling in Japan–but what if you are living in Japan? That is a lot harder.
I’m not in any way discouraging Muslims from coming here. Quite the contrary. It is always a good thing to learn about other cultures. I’m just sharing what I’ve observed from living here in Tokyo, and hopefully, what I know may help those who are preparing to live here.
Difficulties with finding a place to pray
Entrance of Tokyo Camii Mosque. Photo by melissakartini
We’ll start with the most obvious problem. Although prayer spaces are increasing in Japan, they are still very few in number and not easily accessible. They are also not openly advertised, so it is best to do your homework before going anywhere. And before you suggest praying in changing rooms, yes, that is possible, but most times, they may not be located close to you.
If you’re not shy about it, I suppose that you can pray in open spaces, but that is difficult too if you are based in a place like Tokyo. In Japan, especially Tokyo, every available space is utilized as much as possible. That means there are people just about everywhere, making it hard to find a place to pray without getting in anyone’s path.
In a way, it’s a lot easier in the countryside because there are more open spaces and less people around. That said, the countryside poses its own set of problems too.
Difficulties with finding time to pray
Depending on your situation, this can be quite challenging–especially if you are working. Some Muslims working here have told me that it’s hard to find time to pray at work. It simply isn’t a thing here.
But again, I suppose it depends on your situation. Some people are doing fine. It varies.
Difficulties with finding halal food
While Japanese food looks alright because most of it comprises of seafood, it may not be so for certain Muslims. The reason for this is that although it isn’t obvious, alcohol, animal-based emulsifiers and or pig gelatin are often included in food, sweets and even drinks. This, along with finding places and time to pray, is one of the most challenging aspects of living in Japan.
If you’re really strict about your diet, then you’ll have to cook for yourself 99% of the time. On the bright side, your cooking skills will soar and you’ll save a lot of money in the long run, but it’ll also be very exhausting. Japanese life is very busy, after all.
For a picture of how difficult it is to find halal food at a typical Japanese grocery store: if we’re talking about everything but fruits, vegetables, seafood, basically stuff that are halal by default, then more than 95% of what’s on the shelves cannot be consumed by Muslims. To make matters even more challenging, you usually have to be your own captain for what is and isn’t halal–which means learning some kanji in order to read ingredients lists.
And yes, there are halal restaurants, but they are expensive and outside of major cities, extremely hard to find. Halal grocery stores will be your main saviors here.
Sacrificing your social life
Inside Tokyo Camii Mosque. Photo by melissakartini
The most unexpected part of living in Japan as a practicing Muslim is having to sacrifice a chunk of your social life. There might be many instances where people would invite you out, but you’d have to think twice because of the lack of prayer spaces or halal food. More often than not, you’d have to limit your outings to certain periods of the day, such as after the 4th or 5th prayer.
This may impact your ability to make friends here.
The feeling of Otherness
Islam is not a familiar religion in Japan. This applies to both the Japanese and foreigners living here. You will often end up explaining why you can’t do certain things, and being the recipient of strange or pitying looks. With religion being complicated enough as it is to talk about even in your native tongue, it’ll be a lot harder in Japanese.
Adding on to this, there is a huge drinking culture here. I imagine that hearing “Wow, you can’t take alcohol?? Your life is so sad” from almost every person you meet would get tiring after a while. If you don’t hear it, you’d see it on their faces even though you are perfectly happy with your life.
In short, you will feel a definite culture gap in terms of religion with people around you.
Unfortunately, I’m unable to provide much information about the working lives of Muslims here, much less those who have settled in and are raising families. However, I do think that part-time job options are further limited for Muslims who are especially adherent to their religion, because many restaurants and the like deal with alcohol and pork. Of course, there are lots of other part-time jobs that Muslims can take up instead, so no worries. 🙂 And once you’re competent enough in Japanese, your options will widen!
I’m aware that most of these are challenges to the basic needs of Muslims, but I hope that this won’t deter anyone from moving to or even visiting Japan. There is so much to learn and discover here, it would be a shame to miss out.
Just… you know, come over after the Covid-19 situation blows over.
