2024-01-11 15:39:23
Photo credit, getty images
Image caption,
Less than one percent of the Japanese population follows Islam.
Article information
- Author, Par Swaminathan Natarajan
- Role, BBC World Service
-
11 minutes ago
The Muslim community in Japan is a tiny minority, barely 200,000 people in a country of more than 120 million people.
Ninety-nine percent of Japanese citizens have their bodies cremated according to the Buddhist or Shinto tradition, which puts Muslims in embarrassment. Cremation is prohibited by Islam and Muslims normally bury their dead within 24 hours.
Some families are forced to transport their dead hundreds of kilometers to give them a proper Islamic burial. “The very idea of having to cremate a loved one gives me sleepless nights,” confides with emotion Tahir Abbas Khan, who arrived in Japan in 2001 to do a doctorate.
This university professor of Pakistani origin is today a Japanese citizen and active within his community, where he created the Beppu Muslim association.
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A long struggle
Dr. Khan explains that he is not particularly concerned about what happens to his own body, but is distressed by the suffering endured by others.
“The last rites are the last thing that can be done to a person. If I cannot give a dignified burial to a member of my family or a friend, I will not be able to lead a normal life.”
Photo credit, TAHIR ABBAS KHAN
Image caption,
Dr Khan has been trying to create a Muslim cemetery for over ten years.
The first mosque in Oita Prefecture in southern Kyushu island was established in 2009, but a cemetery is still stuck in the planning process for the Muslim community, which has up to 2,000 members .
Mohammed Iqbal Khan left Pakistan in 2004 to settle in Japan with his wife. He established a car export business near Tokyo, then moved to the city of Fukuoka, in the neighboring prefecture or administrative region.
When his wife gave birth to a stillborn child in 2009, there was no Muslim cemetery in his neighborhood.
“We put the body in a small box and put it in a car to go to Yamanashi, more than 1,000 km away,” says Iqbal, reliving the trauma. “Four friends came with me. We took turns driving the whole way.”
The Yamanashi cemetery in central Japan is used by Muslims and Christians, Japan’s other large religious minority, which makes up just over 1 percent of the population.
“I wanted to be by my wife’s side during such a trauma, but that was not possible,” says Iqbal. “It was hard.”
Blockage linked to development
Dr Khan’s association purchased land next to the Beppu Christian cemetery. The owners of the neighboring land issued “no objection certificates”, but the nearest community, which lives 3 km away, objected.
“They said that burying the bodies would contaminate the groundwater as well as the lake water which is used for irrigation,” says Dr Khan.
Photo credit, TAHIR ABBAS KHAN
Image caption,
The Muslims had to give up on this potential burial site in Beppu because they were unable to obtain planning permission.
Nothing has changed in seven years, forcing community members to consider other solutions.
Dr Khan explains that some Muslim migrants have repatriated the bodies of their family members to their country of origin. Others, suffering from terminal cancer, have decided to end their days in their country of origin.
However, transporting a body to the country of origin involves detailed administrative formalities and inevitably delays the burial.
Credit photo, RYOKO SATO
Image caption,
Ryoko Sato (red scarf) wants to be buried according to Islamic custom.
That’s not an option for Ryoko Sato, a Japanese convert to Islam, who also lives on the island of Kyushu.
Some say, “Go back to your country if you don’t follow Japanese rules. Others say take the body to neighboring countries where burial is allowed,” she explains.
“My husband has lived in Japan for more than half his life. He acquired Japanese citizenship a long time ago and fulfilled his tax obligations in the same way as native-born Japanese.
“His descendants will continue to live in Japan, so where do you think his body should be after his death?
According to Mr. Sato, “cultural prejudices” are at the origin of the opposition to the burial.
“Some people view burial as something horrible or scandalous, whereas only a few generations ago burial was a common practice in Japan,” Ms. Sato said.
She has attended many cremations, but is determined to bury herself.
“If the desire to be buried qualifies as selfishness, at least let me be selfish about my corpse.
Shinji Kojima, associate professor of sociology at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, the same university as Dr Khan, believes the reasons are more complex. He studied the issue and advised the Beppu Muslim Association.
“The determining factor is not really whether you are Muslim or not. It is knowing how local community politics work and having the right human network or connection that determines the outcome.” , explains Dr Kojima to the BBC.
“Many promoters, non-Muslim Japanese, have always encountered opposition. This is a ‘not in my backyard’ movement (Nimby).
A possible solution
Dr Khan says there are 13 Muslim cemeteries in Japan, including a recently built one in Hiroshima, about three hours away.
Iqbal accompanied mourners there. “Hiroshima has all the facilities we need. We have water to wash and the local community provides us with halal food,” he explains.
Photo credit, TAHIR ABAS KHAN
Image caption,
The Muslims of Beppu were able to get by by burying their dead in a Christian cemetery, but space is starting to run out.
Dr Khan appealed to members of parliament, relevant ministries and local authorities to resolve the problem.
Today, local authorities have allocated land with 79 graves to the Muslim community of Beppu, which gives hope.
“This is not just a religious issue, but a fundamental human right,” he says. “We are not asking for anything for free. We are ready to pay, but the main challenge is to obtain the building permit.
He adds that other small communities, such as Jews and Christian migrants recently arrived from Brazil, are also struggling.
“The best solution would be to have a single multi-faith burial site in all prefectures in Japan.”
However, the national government is unlikely to intervene, as it has left the problem to local authorities until now.
But Dr. Khan is not giving up hope. “We will not cremate a corpse. That will not happen. We will do whatever it takes to bury the dead.”
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