Should one be buried or cremated? This is the only factor that has Japanese Muslims in a dilemma, as the network struggles with a lack of burial plots. The scenario has worsened in recent times, with some in the Asian country taking to social media and making hostile comments to save Muslims from obtaining plots of land to bury their dead in accordance with their faith.
But what’s behind this increasing demand for burial sites in Japan? And how is the Asian country responding to these demands?
We get the full story.
In 2020, the Muslim arrangement of Beppu requested the approval of the city of Hiji, on the southern island of Kyushu, to identify a cemetery where Muslims can be installed.
Similar applications have also been made throughout the country. For example, a resident of Miyagi’s Prefecture had asked Governor Yoshihiro Murai for a funerary plot, saying that living in Japan “is very difficult” for his circle of relatives due to the lack of tombs.
This appeal for burial plots comes as Japan sees a surge in Muslims in the country. The number of Muslims residing in the Asian nation has risen substantially in recent years — from 110,000 Muslims in 2010 to 350,000 Muslims as of 2023.
It is said that most of the Muslims in the country have come for educational opportunities or to find work. And those who are employed in Japan, rarely want to return home. This rise in the number of Muslims has already led to an increase in the number of mosques — the religious place of worship. It has risen from four in 1980 to a whopping 149 as of June 2024.
To date, Japan only has about 10 main places with burial sites in Japan with affiliations.
However, the call for such funeral reasons for Muslims faces strong opposition from the safe local Japanese. In the case of the funeral intrigue in Miyagi prefecture, there were more than 400 court cases opposing the proposed cemetery, many saying it may be a “potential fitness risk,” such as contaminating local water supplies.
Some on social media, objecting to the cemetery even wrote, “If you can’t follow Japanese customs and ways, then don’t come to Japan.” One other user wrote on social media, “Burial cemeteries are one of the methods used by Muslims to invade foreign countries.”
In the case of the proposed cemetery in Hiji, Mayor Abe Tetsuya has long been opposed to it. Shortly after winning the mayoral election last September, he said, “This is not just an issue for the town. We need to get the national government to provide guidelines. It’s a matter of ordinances and a constitutional problem.”
By the way, Japanese law prohibits burial. However, there are orders that prohibit burials in safe spaces for public hygiene reasons.
Muhammad Tahir Abbas Khan, the head of the Beppu Muslim Association, laments this situation, attributing it to misleading reports on social media. “There are countless misrepresentations being told and it is hard to set them all straight,” he told South China Morning Post.
Speaking about the same, he said that he has filed a demand opposite to a YouTuber that made incorrect and deceitful attacks. “I can’t have to do this step,” said Khan, who has lived in Japan since 2001 and has become a Japanese national more than a decade ago.
According to Khan, Youtuber says he is looking in Japan in a Muslim majority country and that his efforts to ensure that a cemetery was only the first level of this campaign.
“At first, idea that I respond because it would only make things worse, but now I see a lot of other people taking their words and sharing them,” Khan told the South China Morning Post.
He added that there were also several claims that taxpayer cash is used for the cemetery. Khan said it was misleading and that prices for the proposed cemetery would increase through the Muslim Beppu agreement.
“Their objections are all rubbish,” Khan told the South China Morning Post. “I have heard thousands of negative comments, and I still find it hard to understand how many people are being misled by what they are being told in the media and social media.”
To combat this misinformation, the association, under Khan, has also begun several outreach initiatives. But Khan claims that the mayor’s opposition continues to be a stumbling block.
Going to Kyodo News, he added that he would continue to continue a cemetery. “We leave the tombs for the next generation. “
And Khan and the Muslims are not alone; they have found support from Miyagi Gov Yoshihiro Murai, who said last December, that the cemetery “must happen in spite of the criticism.”
“I think the government is more involved with the lack of attention to multiculturalism, even if it claims to be a multicultural society,” Murai told Kyodo News. “Even if I am criticized, we have to do something about it,” he added.
He said extra: “We comply with the desires of those people. “
The call of Muslims for the funeral is in variation for the tradition of Japan’s cremation. After tradition, in Japan, other people are burned; A report even states that Japan has the cremation rate in the world. A 2012 report through the Britain Cremation Society registered the cremation rate of Japan, in the world, in 99. 9%. Taiwan has the moment -moment rate at 90. 8%, followed through Hong Kong (89. 9%) , Switzerland (84. 6%), Thailand (80%) and Singapore (79. 7%).
It is said that when Buddhism spread through Japan, so did the practice of cremation. But in 1873, Japan forbade cremation, claiming that burning bodies were disrespectful with the dead and committed to public morality and that the resulting smoke is a problem of public aptitude.
In May 1875, less than two years after his visit, the ban was reversed. Two decades later, in 1897, the Japanese government judged that any user who died of a transmitted disease had to be increased.
And today, cremation is the selection for the majority.
With tickets