Muslim community in Hokkaido

Article and Translation

By

Takeo Moriuchi

Senior Staff, Research Div.

Hokkaido International Exchange and Cooperation Center

 

Friday Prayer Meeting at Sapporo Masjid

Noon time at Sapporo Masjid in cold winter. A number of Muslims came inside the masjid as adhan being sung by a man with strong vibrato. “I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, I bear witness that there is no God but Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Come to prayer, Come to prayer; Come to success, Come to success.” They prostrated themselves as they started getting into prayer. Imam started today’s speech on importance to live by Halal standard. “Use your caution when you are tempted to eat something you are not supposed to eat or not sure about especially when you are absorbed in your research study. It is easy to simply give in to your appetite. But that’s the time when you should think of Allah and gravity of halal.” Speech was conducted in English since Mr. Tawfeeq Sumi and I was the only Japanese among over sixty multi raced crowd, mostly students of Hokkaido University. Among those, major group were South-Eastern Asians and Middle-Eastern people, and some Africans are sparsely mixed. Friday is designated as the day for group prayer meeting according to Islamic law, and Sapporo Masjid strictly follow that rule. More than hundred Muslims gather together at its peak.

 

Muslim Population in Hokkaido

Japanese government does not provide with official demographic statistical data based on religious belief. According to Pew Research Institute in the U.S., more than 185,000 Muslims inhabit in Japan (2010). Among those, how many Muslims are in Hokkaido alone? According to rough calculation to estimate the number, a thousand strong Muslims are currently living in Hokkaido. The number is calculated through the number of foreign residents in Hokkaido multiplied by the Muslim ratio of respective countries. For instance, when one hundred Egyptians are living in Hokkaido and Muslim ratio in Egypt is 90%, one hundred multiplied by 0.9 equals to ninety Egyptian Muslims, are likely to inhabit in Hokkaido. Although the figure might not be 100% accurate, one thousand residents account for 4.5% of total foreign population in Hokkaido. The figure would increase if those spouses converted into Muslim or Japanese Muslims are taken into consideration. Among those one thousand Muslim residents, Indonesians account for two hundred, Bengalis, Malaysians, Pakistanis and Egyptians account for hundred each. Majority of those are said to be international students and researchers studying in Universities in greater Sapporo area. And there are some used car dealers or restaurant owners who determined to stay in Hokkaido for good as well.

 

Hokkaido Islamic Society

There are two mosques in Hokkaido. One in Sapporo city and other one in Otaru city, and both are serving as divine places for devoted Muslims in Hokkaido. Sapporo Masjid is managed by Hokkaido Islamic Society (HIS). They originally started their activity at rented space near Hokkaido University in mid-1990s and eventually purchased a used house at the price of thirty two million yen in 2007. All the cost was paid by sadaqa, namely voluntary donation by Muslims in Hokkaido and from elsewhere. When you look at the facade of the building, it is hard to notice that the building is serving as mosque because the building is not decorated with any Islamic architectural symbol such as minaret. However as you enter the building, hints of Islamic decoration and functional renovation can be seen everywhere. Two prayer rooms which are covered with beautiful Islamic patterned green carpet, one for Muslims (male) and the other for Muslimas (female) . Even “Mihrab (a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the direction of  Mecca) ” in the prayer room is properly set. The washing place for ritual purification “Wudu” is placed at the entrance of the mosque. And of course you can find Qurans in the bookshelves everywhere. HIS was initially established as a private organization by a group of Hokkaido University students in 1992, and then designated as religious cooperation in 2010 by Hokkaido prefectural government. The director is elected yearly, and incumbent director is Mr. Chowdhury A.R.M Myeenuddin from Bangladesh. Sapporo Masjid also offers places for over-night stay to fellow Muslims traveling to Sapporo from around the world, and sometime organizes Islamic study meeting. No serious conflict against neighbors was reported so far, except for occasional ill-mannered bicycle parking at wrong place by frequent visitor to the Masjid. Religious persecution is none to be seen.

 

Islamic Cemetery

HIS started managing Islamic cemetery some ten years ago. When you are dead in Japan you are cremated in the most cases, which is not commonly practiced in Islamic countries (and Christian, Jewish countries of course). Thus Muslims in Japan are having difficulty finding their cemetery since only three or four Islamic cemeteries where burial is allowed are available. One of them is located in Yoichi, a fishery town two hour’s drive away from Sapporo. Yoichi cemetery initially allowed devout Christians who were searching place for burial near Sapporo, followed by devout Muslims who also were desperately in need of one. Currently 32 plots (128㎡) are allocated for HIS and several deceased are buried peacefully in well managed cemetery. One hundred thousand yen is required as an initial cost for burial and sadaqa as voluntary donation is collected for ongoing maintenance thereafter.

 

Surging Islamic Tourism in Hokkaido

The very first prayer room built in commercial shopping mall in Japan was introduced at Chitose Outlet Mall Rera last summer. Shortly after a temporary prayer room was built in New Chitose Airport to welcome tourists from ASEAN countries who flew with seasonal chartered flight to Hokkaido. Each prayer room is equipped with indication in direction to Mecca and washing place for purification (Rera only). The number of the tourists from abroad to Japan in general after 3.11 disaster declined sharply, meanwhile tourists from ASEAN countries have been on the steady increase. In the past, overseas Chinese were the dominant tourists from ASEAN countries, but now more Muslims are visiting Japan as their economic status being boosted. Rusutsu resort owned by Kamori Kanko Co., Ltd. made the first move in order to go with this big tide. They said they cannot ignore gigantic Islamic market, 1.6 billion worldwide, 200 million ASEAN areas alone. Kamori Kanko acquired so called “local halal certificate” authorized by Malaysia Halal Corporation, Malaysian company to check, instruct and confer certificate to those who want to be authorized as “Halal”. The biggest challenge for any Muslims to face in Japan is food problem. Because one cannot expect English explanation of food ingredients to be indicated in the supermarket or even in decent restaurants which cater western food. So, Kamori Kanko is expecting Muslim customers to be worry-free about food served at their hotels by emphasizing that they are serving halal food. Already several big orders by tourists largely consist of Muslims were placed and they are confident with its strong response. It makes perfect sense that improving halal situation in Hokkaido helps to increase Islamic tourists to Hokkaido. Japan Tourism Agency also keeps its eyes on recent surge of Islamic tourists to Japan, and held a seminar in Tokyo in February on how tourism sectors should be prepared for Muslim tourists. Hokkaido is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Japan from ASEAN areas and need to work out a strategy to take in tourists from those areas in the most efficient way. Mr. Arif Hanif, the president of used car and heavy machine exporting company in Sapporo says, “Hokkaido is undoubtedly good place for Muslims to live in, in the sense that people are very kind and there is no worry to be exposed to malicious religious persecutions, let alone racial discrimination. However Japanese people ought to know that it is extremely important for Muslims to identify food ingredient. If Hokkaido wishes to receive more Muslim tourists from abroad, English menu at restaurants, to say the least, and desirably indication of ingredients at supermarkets is the one single most thing to be improved.” It wouldn’t be so difficult now that indication of allergic substance on the package of any processed food is legal mandatory in Japan.

 

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Interview with Mr. Tawfeeq Sumi, the representative of Japan Muslim Association, Hokkaido sector. Mr. Sumi came to believe in Islam 10 years ago, followed by marriage with Indonesian spouse. He is devoted Muslim who paid pilgrimage to Mecca twice.

(Interviewer : Takeo Moriuchi, HIECC)

 

—–What would you say the appeal of Islam?

“First of all, Islam is easy religion. It somehow resembles to Japanese moral sense -Dotoku-  in many ways, thus it was easy for me to accept the teaching of Islam. And Islam basically does not need medium such as priests or Buddhist monk to communicate with Allah. Thus you don’t have to have such a feeling being forced to believe in the teaching, which can sometimes happen during a pursuit of any religious life. You can develop your sense of connection with Allah at your own pace. The number of Muslims in Hokkaido is increasing recently. I witnessed three new Muslims last year. This trend seems to continue.”

 

—–Is there any special feeling being Muslim in Hokkaido?

“I have this impression that most Japanese people view any religious activity through the filter made up by the media such as television or books, or in many cases completely indifferent to it. Especially towards Muslims, the negative propaganda which swept away all over the world after 9･11 seemed to have heavily influenced the mindset of Japanese people. I have not encountered any religious persecution so far in Sapporo, however I came across interesting experience caused by people’s ignorance about Islam. I was walking down the street with several Muslim friends, and someone reported to Police station just because we were there walking peacefully. (smile) I assume our attire might have been too conspicuous to pass by. I just hope that people can learn something about Islam through such kind of experience.

 

——Is there any advice for Japanese people as the number of Muslim tourists to Hokkaido increases?

“If you are in the position to meet with Muslim tourists on a regular basis, it is best if you can gain basic information about Islam. It is not easy to categorize Muslims as one unified body since they are different according to countries, areas or ethnic backgrounds with different cultures. And of course there are those who are completely devoted ones, and rather loose ones. After all, they are all different individuals with same belief, so impression you receive from Muslims may differ in great variation.

 

—–Do you have any expectation on the part of administration side in terms of preparing to receive Muslims as tourists?

“I expect people in the administrative side to have correct information on Muslims. It is undeniable that preparedness to receive Islam tourists in Japan is far behind compared to any other developed countries. It is good that now Japan is willing to take Islam population as huge tourism market, but, at the same time, Japan needs to be internationalized in more balanced manner. What I mean is that you need to know who your guests are in order to render proper service to those who pay visit to Japan. Knowing your guests is the first step to show hospitality. If you keep showing your best hospitality that eventually leads to the increase of tourists to Hokkaido. Hokkaido has the big potential to become popular tourist’s destination worldwide. It is my strong belief that bringing Muslims in Hokkaido is a big chance to invigorate Hokkaido itself in many aspects.”

 

(This article was originally published in Japanese in “HOPPOKEN No.163”, and translated into English by Moriuchi. Note that any translation error and provision of incorrect information attributes to Moriuchi. )