Directly accessible data for 170 industries from 150+ countries 43 Takahashi Reference Takahashi2018, pp. The government continued to grant status to Chinese nationals self-identifying as Falun Gong practitioners, allowing them to remain in the country, while also allowing overseas artists, many of whom were Falun Gong devotees, to enter the country in conjunction with performances held in January and February prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Survey question: Morris-Suzuki has referred to Japan's version of multiculturalism as superficial multiculturalism or cosmetic multiculturalism.Footnote 58 She identifies four conditions under which national identity that promotes desirable cultural diversity is expressed under the regime of cosmetic multiculturalism: diversity must fit within a narrowly defined space of culture which refers to the esthetic, detached from politics and the ordinary; it must be displayed in a manageable form or space such as music performance at a festival as part of a summit meeting; it must be limited to a superficial, decorative form that does not challenge the power relations that operate within the existing social structure; and lastly, those who do not pass as Japanese must visibly display their loyalty to Japan in order for cultural diversity to be recognized.Footnote 59 The following sections will show that Islam in Japan tends to be presented and tolerated as (foreign) culture, especially within the framework of tabunka kysei, multicultural coexistence, rather than a religion that is practiced and performed in various ways by people from diverse backgrounds, including Japanese people, and that the cosmetic multiculturalist understanding of culture is applied to Islamic culture., Local residents have voiced opposition to the construction of mosques in various parts of Japan. How a growing number of Muslims are making Japan their home The latest,Masjid Istiqlal Osaka, opened in Osakas Nishinari Ward last year. 11 Shimada Reference Shimada2015, pp. According to the MOJ, penal institutions gave inmates access to 9,311 collective and 6,290 individual religious ritual activities, including worship and counseling sessions by civil volunteer chaplains in 2019, the most recent year for which figures were available. It is believed that the Japan's real encounters with the Muslim world began from the end of the Edo period to the early Meiji period and accelerated after Japan's victory in the RussoJapanese War in 1905 as Japanese Pan-Asian nationalists befriended Muslim nationalists and Pan-Islamists.Footnote 8 In the late Meiji period, the relations between Muslim intellectuals with nationalist and Pan-Islamic views and Japanese nationalists with Pan-Asian views, who hoped to expand Japanese hegemony into Asia by forming alliances with Muslims, were driven by their mutual opposition to Western hegemony. for this article. Islam and Muslims in "non-religious" Japan: caught in between prejudice I argue that such a limited understanding of Islam as (foreign) culture does not resolve everyday issues that are faced by some Muslims, including Japanese Muslims who lack the so-called gaikokujin-sei , foreignness, as scholars have already mentioned. These standards are based on the law, which states that schools should give careful consideration when teaching religion in general to junior high and high school students. Love and Faith in Japan: Three Stories of Japanese-Muslim Matrimony The law stipulates that worship and religious rituals performed by inmates in penal institutions, alone or in a group, shall not be prohibited. 19 Tanada Reference Tanada2019a, pp. The mosque has since joined the neighborhood association as an entity, and young Muslims have also taken part in efforts to clean up the local area and shovel snow. Although the report ranked Israel . Overview and forecasts on trending topics, Industry and market insights and forecasts, Key figures and rankings about companies and products, Consumer and brand insights and preferences in various industries, Detailed information about political and social topics, All key figures about countries and regions, Market forecast and expert KPIs for 1000+ markets in 190+ countries & territories, Insights on consumer attitudes and behavior worldwide, Business information on 70m+ public and private companies, Detailed information for 39,000+ online stores and marketplaces. The government requires religious groups applying for corporate status to prove they have a physical space for worship and their primary purpose is disseminating religious teachings, conducting religious ceremonies, and educating and nurturing believers. How many Muslims in Japan? RelatedLeft in limbo: Japan's haphazard immigration policies, disrespect for human rights, RelatedAs I See It: Standing together against discrimination in wake of NZ terror attack, RelatedJapanese Muslims face challenges at the workplace, Baseball: Shota Dobayashi hits 2 HRs, Allen Kuri throws shutout in Carp's win, Football: Urawa beat Lee Man for chance to defend ACL title, LDP weighs scrapping NTT law to sell off telecom giant shares. Although it's the second largest religion in the world, Muslims only make up 0.15% of the country's total population. It's lonely being so far away from my wife and young children, but I feel calmer being able to come to this place near my home.". Furthermore, the cosmetic multiculturalist understanding of culture that is applied to Islamic culture is detached from politics and the ordinary, presented in a manageable form or space, limited to the esthetic, superficial, or decorative that does not challenge the norms and power relations within the social structure and even requires one to display loyalty to Japan. It had imports totaling $797 billion dollars in 2012, of which; $219.06 billion dollars was just from 22 Muslim countries. ", Ipsos, Perceived and actual percentage of Muslim population in Japan as of 2018 Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/955290/japan-perceived-and-actual-share-of-muslim-population/ (last visited August 22, 2023), Perceived and actual percentage of Muslim population in Japan as of 2018 [Graph], Ipsos, December 5, 2018. U.S. Government Policy and Engagement. NGOs and UNHCR reported a low rate of approval of refugee status. 50 Katakura Reference Katakura, Motoko, Hiroshi and Yoshimi2004, p. 20. Of the approximately 350 Rohingya Muslims in the country, the government granted refugee status to 18, but none since 2015, according to BRAJ President Zaw Min Htut. Your browser does not support JavaScript, or it is disabledPlease check the site policy for more information. The Friday prayer is considered a particularly significant part of believers' duties to. 14 Komai Reference Komai, Motoko, Hiroshi and Yoshimi2004, pp. The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) reported that in 2019 (latest statistics available), its human rights division received 224 inquiries related to potential religious freedom violations, compared with 164 in 2018, and confirmed seven cases, compared with eight in 2018, as highly likely to be religious freedom violations. Of that number, Japanese nationals and those who had obtained permanent resident status through marriage and other circumstances accounted for about 47,000, more than double the estimate of 10,000 to 20,000 a decade earlier. The number of non-Japanese Muslim residents, including those overstaying their visas, was estimated to have reached over 100,000 in the early 1990s.Footnote 17 However, in response to the growing concern about an increase in the number of unauthorized workers and visa overstays, aggravated by the negative media portrayals of Iranians as criminals, the Japanese government suspended the visa-exemption agreements with Pakistan and Bangladesh in 1989 and with Iran in 1992.Footnote 18 Although many Muslim migrant workers who married Japanese women remained in Japan, others, including those who overstayed their visas, returned to their countries of origin and the number of incoming migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran sharply declined for a number of reasons, such as the aforementioned suspension of the visa-exemption agreements, the 1990 revision of the Immigration Control Act that imposed a penalty on companies that employed illegal migrant workers, the decline in the demand for labor in the wake of the collapse of Japan's bubble economy in the early 1990s, and the 2000 revision of the Immigration Control Act, which established the criminal offence unlawful stay for those who entered Japan illegally. The revision of the law was enacted with the support of the conservative LDP, the Socialist party, and the Communist party that wanted to curtail the political power of the new religions, the most prominent one being Ska Gakkai and its political party Kmeit, notwithstanding the resistance from many religious organizations, especially the new religions, ultimately giving the government greater control over religious organizations. and over 1Mio. It states that the people shall not abuse their rights and shall be responsible to use their rights for the public welfare. Will Trump Indictments Tear the Country Apart. It remained highly popular throughout the year, often far outpacing other articles. 4 See, e.g., Asad Reference Asad2003; Haddad, Smith, and Moore Reference Haddad, Smith and Moore2006. The government does not require religious groups to register or apply for certification, but certified religious groups with corporate status do not have to pay income tax on donations and religious offerings used as part of their operational and maintenance expenses. 67 Isuramu kykai mosuku nairankai: Shizuoka, tabunka kysei e sonzaikan 2019. Japan: perceived and actual share of Muslim population | Statista Status of Government Respect for Religious Freedom, Section III. 40 Siddiqi Reference Siddiqi and Hiroshi2003, p. 165. Please view the main text area of the page by skipping the main menu. The latter is due to a sharp rise in marriages between Muslims and Japanese citizens andJapanese converts over two decades that has seen a seven-fold increase in the number of mosques. However, Japanese attitudes toward Islam and Muslims can hardly be characterized by innocent indifference: Islamophobic tendencies compounded with religious apathy and phobia of religion, along with ignorance, are manifested in the form of fictitious associations made between Islam and fundamentalism/extremism, and Muslims and terrorists that loom large in the Japanese national imaginary as evidenced by the media representations of Islam and Muslims that often instill a feeling of fear in viewers, and the profiling and surveillance of Muslims that is carried out by the police. See Katsura Reference Katsura2020. "My company's business had stabilized, so I decided I wanted to make a space that could be helpful to Muslims here," he said.
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