Japan’s religious landscape is undergoing a transformative shift, which is all the more evident by looking at the growing number of mosques that have emerged in the country over the past two decades.
The change can be attributed to a lesser degree to increasing intermarriage between Muslims and Japanese citizens (many Japanese converted to Islam through marriage), but mostly to the rising number of immigrants coming from Islamic states.
The number of Muslims in Japan was estimated to be between 10,000 to 20,000 in the year 2000 while the current estimates are of over 200,000. That is a ten-fold increase in less than one generation.
Also, mosques that used to be an uncommon sight in Japan are no longer rare. As of March 2021, there were 113 mosques in Japan, up from only 15 in 1999.
A notorious case is the Masjid Istiqlal Osaka, which came up in Osaka’s Nishinari Ward last year. It is housed in a structure that was once a factory. Donations from Indonesians mostly funded the costs of the renovation work, and we know that the largest Muslim population in the world is found in Indonesia.
While this trend reflects a more inclusive Japanese society, it also presents challenges and friction.