I spent two years of my 30s in Meiji University of Japan. It was an opportunity to acquire professional study in the field of Governance Studies. The program was designed mostly with practical attachments in offices, business institutions, social organizations, NGOs, even sometimes with root-level individuals. It was a really excellent opportunity to mix with, and experience rituals and cultural touches with Japanese Society.
One notable point is that both the citizens and government policies bear and put into practice all advantageous mindsets without disturbing peace and nature. They hold their beauty of its Eastern culture, and this is a spectacular characteristic nature, which is somewhat distinguishable from the rest of the world.
Around 1900 CE Islam was thought to enter Japan. The institution of Arabic language faculties in the University of Foreign Languages in Tokyo and Osaka had a revolutionary role in learning Arabic as a language.
In 1935 CE Kobe Mosque, Japan’s first Islamic building was built. Generally, all the mosques are currently providing five-time congregational daily prayers and weekly Friday prayer, Islamic marriage ceremonies (including certificates), an Islamic library, Shahadah (including issuing certificates), funeral services, classes about various Islamic topics at the center, and dissemination of Islamic information.
There are currently almost 40 mosques together with hundred prayer places as rooms in Japan. Mosques are being built throughout Japan, which is a new concept in Japanese society. Neighbors have little or no objection to it rather having curiosity only.
I met one brother in Hira Mosque in Chiba who was very regular in offering Fazr Swalah (morning prayer). He took a backed when he first saw the activities of Muslims and he was surprised later while known about this religion. He completed his bachelor’s degree in Islamic Studies from Waseda University. When I first saw him, I could feel a bit how nice the Sahabas were, I wondered! Another brother expressed the same feeling about him.
After reverting to Islam, the Japanese become nicer people. I got an opportunity to meet how excellent the Muslims are in there.
A great number of Japanese embraced Islam in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines just before and during the Second World War.
In 1953, the first Japanese Muslim organization, the Japan Muslim Association was organized. So far there are many Islamic organizations established since the 1900s, limited has active members in practice. Realizing the importance of the Japanese economy, the Muslim world, especially Arab countries, was focused on Japanese electronic media during the global oil crisis in 1973.
In the 1980s, during the ‘economic boom’, a big number of people from some parts of Asia gathered in Japan and they got married to Japanese ladies thus the number of Muslims increased. Workforce, mostly young men from Muslim countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey, and Iran appeared in Japan and labored in small businesses or works at that time. Out of these Muslims in Japan, it is thought that 90% are resident foreigners and about 10% native Japanese.
The number of Muslims is now at around 130000, which was around half in 2000. Muslims are found everywhere in Japan, from Okinawa Islands in the south, adjacent to Taiwan to the Hokkaido in the north. It is increasing day by day due to the increase in the number of students and workers all around. Until recently, Turks are the biggest Muslim community in Japan.
The Islamic Centers arrange the marriage ceremony and issue certificates for newly married couples. This is done just after the couples have registered their marriage with the Japanese authorities. Interestingly, day by day number of marriages at the Islamic Centre between Japanese women converts to Islam and foreign Muslims is increasing.
Japan practically maintains a small side view of all sorts concerning Muslim matters globally. For example, in maintaining diplomatic relations, visiting in Islamic countries by political figures and such. So apparently it is yet to be warmed, except matters relating to oil and gas, which Japan imports from some Muslim countries.
In Japan, people have no servants in their houses even though they have much more money than that of other countries. The parents take care of their children and manage houses. I saw an amazing thing in a buffet restaurant in Japan that people only eat as much as they need without any waste because food must not be wasted, which is one of the core advice in Islam.
The Japanese value amazes me every time, because they believe and practice the best use of everything. Amazingly, all the metro and subway train has a delay of around seven seconds per year, which is a negligible extent. The Japanese appreciate the value of time and are very punctual to minutes and seconds.
It becomes in my mind that the Japanese peoples opened to take an interest in each other’s for several areas: political, economic, expansionist, cultural, and humanistic with humanistic predominating.
In October 1935, the famous Kobe Mosque was founded in Kobe, and is Japan’s first mosque was confiscated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943. It continues to function again to serve as a mosque at present. It is located in one of Kobe’s popular tourist areas, which features many old western-style buildings. For its beauty in architecture and structure, the mosque survived the air raids that laid waste to most of Kobe’s urban districts in 1945 and was able to sustain at the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995.
I acknowledge the steps taken by Japanese universities in teaching Arabic and other Islamic languages. In the post-Second World War, universities in Osaka and Tokyo as well as other areas opened many language facilities. Government ministries are continuously supervising and patronizing such language centers for academic research. In Japanese-Islamic cultural exchange, these centers play a vital role which will be more significant in the future.
I feel thankful to those Japanese people, who have respect for Islam and want to welcome it in their lives. Mistakenly, Japanese are sometimes assumed as locked-minded who abstain themselves from inviting others to infuse into. However, this distinguishes them from others. It can be thought that in Japan there is an excellent prospect for Islam.
Many a time Islamic scholars from many parts of the world came to different mosques and put comments about the Japanese that we saw Islam without the Shahada. Because from many points of consideration they already possess the qualities that Muslims are bound to follow.
