Islam in Japan
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The history of Islam in
While there were isolated occasions of Muslim presence in Japan before the 19th century, today, approximately 90% of Muslims in Japan are of foreign origin, with the rest being native Japanese converts.[5][6]
History
Early history
There are isolated records of contact between Islam and Japan before the opening of the country in 1853,[7] possibly as early as the 1700s; some Muslims did arrive in earlier centuries, although these were isolated incidents. Some elements of Islamic philosophy were also distilled as far as back as the Heian period through Chinese and Southeast Asian sources.[5]
Medieval and early modern records
The earliest Muslim records of Japan can be found in the works of the Persian cartographer
The first recorded Muslim in history to go to Japan was Sadr ud-Din (撒都魯丁 pronounced as Sādōulǔdīng in Chinese and Sadorotei in Japanese, also wrongly transcribed as 都魯丁 Dūlǔdīng and 撤都魯丁 Chèdōulǔdīng by the Japanese), sent by Yuan China in 1275 as a diplomatic delegation ordering the Japanese to submit to the Yuan emperor between the two Mongol invasions of Japan. He was beheaded by the Japanese. A Buddhist monk criticised the executions of the envoys.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17]
The Persian historian Rashid al-Din Hamadani mentioned Japan twice in his historical work Jami' al-tawarikh as Jimingu and described it having many cities and mines.
During that period there was contact between the Hui, general Lan Yu of the Ming dynasty and the swordsmiths of Japan. According to Chinese sources, Lan Yu owned 10,000 Katana, Hongwu Emperor was displeased with the general's links with Kyoto and more than 15,000 people were implicated for alleged treason and executed.[18][19] Lan Yu's ethnicity is disputed with some Hui claiming he was Hui but his biography in official Ming records do not mention him being Hui.
In the 13th century, a manuscript written by Persians from Quanzhou in China for the Japanese monk Keisei was brought back to Japan.[20]
Early European accounts of Muslims and their contacts with Japan were maintained by
In the 17th century, Iranian merchants from Thailand arrived to Nagasaki during the Edo period.[20] The Iranian Shaykh Ahmad fought and defeated Japanese merchants who attempted a coup against the Thai king in 1611.[23] In the 17th century text Safine-ye Solaymani, Shia writer Mohammad Ibrahim described Japan and its culture, economy, recent political upheavals and their relationship with foreign merchants.[24]
Modern records
In the late 1870s, the
Another important contact was made in 1890 when
In 1891, an Ottoman crew who were shipwrecked on the Japanese coast the previous year were assisted in their return to Constantinople by the Imperial Japanese navy. Shotaro Noda, a journalist who accompanied them, became the earliest known Japanese convert during his stay in the Ottoman capital.[5]
Early 20th century
In the wake of the
Japanese nationalists and Islam
In the late
Nationalistic organizations like the Ajia Gikai were instrumental in petitioning the Japanese government on matters such as officially recognizing Islam, along with
Post–World War II
The Japanese invasion of China and South East Asian regions during the Second World War brought the Japanese in contact with Muslims. Those who converted to Islam through them returned to Japan and established in 1953 the first Japanese Muslim organisation, the "Japan Muslim Association", which was officially granted recognition as a religious organization by the Japanese government in June 1968.
The economic boom in the country in the 1980s saw an influx of immigrants to Japan, including from majority Muslim nations. These immigrants and their descendants form the majority of Muslims in the country. Today, there are Muslim student associations at some Japanese universities.[26] In 2016, Japan accepted 0.3% of refugee applicants, many of whom are Muslims.[36]
Demographics
In 1941, one of the chief sponsors of the Tokyo Mosque asserted that the number of Muslims in Japan numbered 600, with just three or four being native Japanese.[27] Some sources state that in 1982 the Muslims numbered 30,000 (half were natives).[25] Of the ethnically Japanese Muslims, the majority are thought to be ethnic Japanese women who married immigrant Muslims who arrived during the economic boom of the 1980s, but there are also a small number of intellectuals, including university professors, who have converted.[37][26] Most estimates of the Muslim population in the 2000s give a range around 100,000 total.[25][26][38] Islam remains a minority religion in Japan. Conversion is more prominent among young ethnic Japanese married women, as claimed by The Modern Religion as early as the 1990s.[37]
The true size of the current Muslim population in Japan remains a matter of speculation. Japanese scholars such as Hiroshi Kojima of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research and Keiko Sakurai of Waseda University suggest a Muslim population of around 70,000 in 2007, of which perhaps 90% are resident foreigners and about 10% native Japanese.[6][26] Of the immigrant communities, in order of population size, are Indonesians, Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.[26] The Pew Research Center estimated that there were 185,000 Muslims in Japan in 2010.[39] For 2019 it was estimated that the numbers rose to 230,000, due to the more friendly policies towards immigration, the Japanese converts being estimated at 50,000, and Japan now has more than 110 mosques compared to 24 in 2001.[40] As of 2020, nearly half of the Muslims in Japan were Indonesians, Filipinos, and Malaysians.[41] Another 2019 estimate places the total number at 200,000, with a ratio of 90:10 for those of foreign origin to native Japanese converts.[5]
Population by prefecture
The percentages of Muslim populations of each prefecture from 2020.[42]
Table
Prefectures | Total Population | Muslim Population | Muslim percentage of total population |
---|---|---|---|
Aichi | 7,542,415 | 21,920 | 0.3 |
Akita | 959,502 | 331 | < 0.1 |
Aomori | 1,237,984 | 560 | < 0.1 |
Chiba | 6,284,480 | 15,575 | 0.2 |
Ehime | 1,344,841 | 1,247 | < 0.1 |
Fukui | 766,863 | 747 | < 0.1 |
Fukuoka | 5,135,214 | 5,022 | < 0.1 |
Fukushima | 1,833,152 | 1,449 | < 0.1 |
Gifu | 1,978,742 | 3,740 | 0.2 |
Gunma | 1,939,110 | 8,809 | 0.5 |
Hiroshima | 2,799,702 | 4,858 | 0.2 |
Hokkaidō | 5,224,614 | 3,262 | < 0.1 |
Hyōgo | 5,465,002 | 5,244 | < 0.1 |
Ibaraki | 2,867,009 | 13,743 | 0.5 |
Ishikawa | 1,132,852 | 1,661 | 0.1 |
Iwate | 1,210,534 | 679 | < 0.1 |
Kagawa | 950,244 | 2,034 | 0.2 |
Kagoshima | 1,588,256 | 1,280 | < 0.1 |
Kanagawa | 9,237,337 | 16,283 | 0.2 |
Kōchi | 691,527 | 632 | < 0.1 |
Kumamoto | 1,738,301 | 1,704 | < 0.1 |
Kyōto | 2,578,087 | 3,359 | 0.1 |
Mie | 1,770,254 | 4,160 | 0.2 |
Miyagi | 2,301,996 | 3,179 | 0.1 |
Miyazaki | 1,069,576 | 1,471 | 0.1 |
Nagano | 2,048,011 | 3,127 | 0.2 |
Nagasaki | 1,312,317 | 786 | 0.1 |
Nara | 1,324,473 | 986 | 0.1 |
Nīgata | 2,201,272 | 2,004 | 0.1 |
Ōita | 1,123,852 | 2,154 | 0.2 |
Okayama | 1,888,432 | 3,152 | 0.2 |
Okinawa | 1,467,480 | 2,275 | 0.2 |
Ōsaka | 8,837,685 | 10,660 | 0.1 |
Saga | 811,442 | 1,221 | 0.2 |
Saitama | 7,344,765 | 22,703 | 0.3 |
Shiga | 1,413,610 | 2,332 | 0.2 |
Shimane | 671,126 | 513 | 0.1 |
Shizuoka | 3,633,202 | 7,721 | 0.2 |
Tochigi | 1,933,146 | 6,227 | 0.3 |
Tokushima | 719,559 | 918 | 0.1 |
Tokyo
|
14,047,594 | 30,819 | 0.2 |
Tottori | 553,407 | 451 | 0.1 |
Toyama | 1,034,814 | 2,645 | 0.3 |
Wakayama | 922,584 | 485 | 0.1 |
Yamagata | 1,068,027 | 625 | 0.1 |
Yamaguchi | 1,342,059 | 1,337 | 0.1 |
Yamanashi | 809,974 | 851 | 0.1 |
Japan | 126,156,425 | 226,941 | 0.2 |
Mosques
-
Kobe Mosque, Japan's first mosque, built in Indo-Islamic style in 1935 by Jan Josef Švagr
-
Tokyo Mosque, Japan's largest mosque
Japan's first mosque was the
Notable Muslims
- Antonio Inoki
- Dewi Sukarno
- Kōhan Kawauchi
- Masatoşi Gündüz İkeda
- Mitsutarō Yamaoka
- Ryoichi Mita
- Shotaro Noda
- Sultan Nour
- Tani Yutaka
See also
- Religion in Japan
- Arabs in Japan
- Iranians in Japan
- Persian manuscript in Japan
- Japan Muslim Association
- List of Major Mosques in Japan
- Ahmadiyya in Japan
Notes
- ^ "The number of Muslims in Japan is growing fast". The Economist.
- ^ "The number of Muslims in Japan is growing fast". The Economist.
- ^ "National Profiles".
- ^ "Ever growing Muslim community in the world and Japan".
- ^ S2CID 239198369.
- ^ a b Yasunori, Kawakami; JapanFocus.org (May 30, 2007). "Local Mosques and the Lives of Muslims in Japan". JapanFocus.org. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
- ^ Obuse, Keiko. "Islam in Japan". Oxford Bibliographies. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
- ^ Saudi Aramco World: The Seas of Sindbad, Paul Lunde
- ^ J.H. Morris, 'Some reflections on the first Muslim visitor to Japan', The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 35 (2019) 116-30
- .
- ^ https://www.ajis.org/index.php/ajiss/article/download/150/1925/4554 [bare URL]
- ^ https://www.researchgate.net/publication/340903411_Some_Reflections_on_the_First_Muslim_Visitor_to_Japan [bare URL]
- .
- ^ "Some Reflections on the First Muslim Visitor to Japan - PDF Free Download".
- ^ James Harry Morris, 'Christian-Muslim relations in 19th-century Japan', North America, South-East Asia, China, Japan, and Australasia (1800-1914) 16 (2020) 485–506 DOI 10.1163/9789004429901_007
- S2CID 241069441.
- S2CID 241069441.
- ^ (二十六年二月,錦衣衛指揮蔣瓛告玉謀反,下吏鞫訊。獄辭雲:「玉同景川侯曹震、鶴慶侯張翼、舳艫侯硃壽、東莞伯何榮及吏部尚書詹徽、戶部侍郎傅友文等謀為變,將伺帝出耤田舉事。」獄具,族誅之。列侯以下坐黨夷滅者不可勝數。手詔佈告天下,條列爰書為《逆臣錄》。至九月,乃下詔曰:「藍賊為亂,謀泄,族誅者萬五千人。自今胡黨、藍黨概赦不問。」胡謂丞相惟庸也。於是元功宿將相繼盡矣。凡列名《逆臣錄》者,一公、十三侯、二伯。葉升前坐事誅,胡玉等諸小侯皆別見。其曹震、張翼、張溫、陳桓、硃壽、曹興六侯,附著左方。)
- ^ Others implicated in the Lan Yu Case include: Han Xun (韓勛), Marquis of Dongping (東平侯); Cao Tai (曹泰), Marquis of Xuanning (宣寧侯); Cao Xing (曹興), Marquis of Huaiyuan (懷遠侯); Ye Sheng (葉升), Marquis of Jingning (靖寧侯); Cao Zhen (曹震), Marquis of Jingchuan (景川侯); Zhang Wen (張溫), Marquis of Huining (會寧侯); Chen Huan (陳桓), Marquis of Puding (普定侯); Zhang Yi (張翼), Marquis of Heqing (鶴慶侯); Zhu Shou (朱壽), Marquis of Zhulu (舳艫侯); Chahan (察罕), Marquis of Haixi (海西侯); Sun Ke (孫恪), Marquis of Quanning (全寧侯); He Rong (何榮), Count of Dongguan (東莞伯); Sang Jing (桑敬), Count of Huixian (徽先伯)
- ^ Encyclopaedia Iranica.
- ^ "Islam In Japan". Islamic Japanese.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume I: The Century of Discovery. - Donald F. Lach - Google Books
- ^ TOMB OF SHEIKH AHMAD QOMI - History of Ayutthaya
- ISBN 9781135029852.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7641-2226-2.
- ^ a b c d e f g Penn, Michael. "Islam in Japan". Harvard Asia Quarterly. Archived from the original on 2 February 2007. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ a b R&A No. 890 1943, p. 1
- ^ His memoirs: Toruko Gakan, Tokyo 1911
- ^ Japan's Global Claim to Asia and the World of Islam: Transnational Nationalism and World Power, 1900-1945. S Esenbel. The American Historical Review 109 (4), 1140-1170
- ^ Bodde, Derk. “Japan and the Muslims of China.” Far Eastern Survey, vol. 15, no. 20, 1946, pp. 311–313., www.jstor.org/stable/3021860.
- ^ Most of its produced literature is preserved in the Waseda University Library("Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2007-12-06.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Catalogue) - ^ "Okawa Shumei". Britannica. 20 July 1998. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ISBN 978-981-13-6697-0.
- ^ http://islamjp.com/library/icf2p10.htm
- ^ "Road to Hajj — Japan - 26 Nov 09 - Pt 1". YouTube. 26 November 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-19. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ Ekin, Annette. "Lives in limbo: Why Japan accepts so few refugees". Al Jazeera.
- ^ a b Y. Nakano, Lynne; Japan Times Newspaper (November 19, 1992). "Marriages lead women into Islam in Japan". Japan Times. Retrieved 27 December 2008.
- ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2008 - Japan
- ^ "Table: Muslim Population by Country". Pew Research Center. 27 January 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
- ^ "The number of Muslims in Japan is growing fast". The Economist. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ^ Barber, B. Bryan (2020). Japan's Relations with Muslim Asia. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 227.
- ^ "日本のムスリム人口 1990〜2020年 RPMJ20号 – 滞日ムスリム調査プロジェクト". www.imemgs.com. Retrieved 2022-08-16.
- ^ "JapanFocus". JapanFocus. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
- ^ Penn, Michael (November 28, 2015). "Japan's newest and largest mosque opens its doors". Al Jazeera Media Network. Retrieved November 14, 2023.
References
- Abu Bakr Morimoto, Islam in Japan: Its Past, Present and Future, Islamic Centre Japan, 1980
- Arabia, Vol. 5, No. 54. February 1986/Jamad al-Awal 1406
- Hiroshi Kojima, "Demographic Analysis of Muslims in Japan," The 13th KAMES and 5th AFMA International Symposium, Pusan, 2004
- Michael Penn, "Islam in Japan: Adversity and Diversity," Harvard Asia Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1, Winter 2006
- Keiko Sakurai, Nihon no Musurimu Shakai (Japan's Muslim Society), Chikuma Shobo, 2003
- Esenbel, Selcuk; Japanese Interest in the Ottoman Empire; in: Edstrom, Bert; The Japanese and Europe: Images and Perceptions; Surrey 2000
- Esenbel, Selcuk; Inaba Chiharū; The Rising Sun and the Turkish Crescent; İstanbul 2003, ISBN 978-975-518-196-7
- A fin-de-siecle Japanese Romantic in Istanbul: The life of Yamada Torajirō and his Turoko gakan; Bull SOAS, Vol. LIX-2 (1996), S 237-52 ...
- Research and Analysis Branch (15 May 1943). "Japanese Infiltration Among the Muslims Throughout the World (R&A No. 890)" (PDF). Office of Strategic Services. U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 27, 2016.