Japan's growing Muslim population still needs burial plots

South China Morning Post

28-01-2025

As the number of Muslims living in Japan continues to increase, so does the demand for burial grounds in a nation where more than 99 per cent of citizens cremate.
Muslim migrants and converts face opposition from the local community, especially in constructing cemeteries where they can conduct an Islamic burial.
While some local governments are considering establishing new burial cemeteries to accommodate foreign workers, the idea has not gone over well with some Japanese community leaders who have raised objections over what they say are sanitary concerns.
Muslims who are considering staying indefinitely in the country say the limited number of burial plots makes them anxious about their future.
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In December, Miyagi governor Yoshihiro Murai said he was considering building a new cemetery in the prefecture after a plea from a Muslim resident who told him that living in Japan 'is very difficult' for his family because of the lack of graves.
The prefecture in the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan exchanged memorandums (written messages) with the Indonesian government in 2023 regarding securing workers to support local industries.
Indonesia has the largest Muslim population in the world. The Quran, the holy book of Islam, says that Muslims must be buried. Cremation is strictly forbidden.
'I feel that the government should be more concerned about the lack of attention to multiculturalism, even though it claims to be a multicultural society,' said Murai, pointing out that there are no burial cemeteries in the Tohoku region. 'Even if I am criticised, we have to do something about this,' he added.
At 99.97 per cent, Japan has one of the highest cremation rates in the world. Photo: Shutterstock
Elsewhere, a construction project for a large burial cemetery promoted by the Beppu Muslim Association, a religious corporation in Hiji, Oita Prefecture, in southwestern Japan, has been put off indefinitely due to opposition from the town's mayor.
The plan initially seemed to be going well. In 2023, local residents approved the plan to sell land owned by the municipal government on condition it complied with ordinances for burial sites. The town did not object.
The apparent smooth progress of the plan was in contrast with the opposition aroused in 2018 by a plan to buy a different plot. That had triggered rumours about alleged harm, including the impact on groundwater quality.
For the current plan, the conditions included an agreement with the residents association where the planned site is located, promising no additional burials for 20 years in plots where burials have taken place and that the groundwater would be tested once a year.
However, the situation took a bleak turn when Tetsuya Abe, who opposed the plan over concerns about public health, won his inaugural mayoral election bid in August 2024.
The association's representative, Tahir Khan, was informed that Abe had no intention of selling the plot to be used as a cemetery after residents expressed concerns about the possible contamination of drinking water.
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According to an estimate by Hirofumi Tanada – professor emeritus at Waseda University, an expert on Muslim affairs in Japan – the country's Muslim population was around 350,000 as of the beginning of 2024 – over three times the 110,000 Muslims in 2010. Fifty-four thousand of those are Japanese converts to the religion.
In 1980, Japan had a total of four mosques in the entire country. The number is about 150 as of June 2024.
Still, there are only about 10 major locations with burial sites in Japan with religious affiliations, including Christian sites.
The law regarding burial sites does not prohibit ground interment (putting a dead body in its final resting place); local governments can establish them if they set requirements. But according to a national survey conducted in 2023, more than 99.9 per cent of cemeteries still only perform cremations.
Muslims stand under the dome of Tokyo Mosque, an elegant, marble mosque built in an Ottoman style. Photo: Reuters
Amid the domestic labour shortage, the government touts its efforts to accept more migrant workers and move toward the reality of an inclusive society. Abe, the Hiji mayor, says the issue of providing burial plots should not be left to municipalities, suggesting that the central government step in and establish guidelines.
In 2021, the Beppu Muslim Association petitioned the central government to establish a public cemetery where people can choose their burial method according to their faith, but 'there has been no change,' according to the association.
Khan, a university professor in Oita who came to Japan in 2001 and became a Japanese citizen, has a child born in Japan. 'We cannot give up on graves for the next generation's sake,' he said.