Finding Places of Worship and Practicing Faith in Japan

Places of worship in Japan exist for many world faiths, and the Constitution guarantees everyone the freedom to practice, but minority congregations are small and concentrated in a few metropolitan areas.¹² Prayer time, diet, and festival leave at work or school are arranged case by case, so knowing where to look and what to ask for matters from your first weeks. This article covers how to find a mosque, church, synagogue, or temple, where to pray away from home, how to eat within religious dietary rules, how to handle holidays at work, and which community contacts matter at the end of life.

Confirm current details with official sources

Procedures, fees, and requirements can change. Confirm current details at the e-Gov law database (laws.e-gov.go.jp) for the statutes cited here and the Agency for Cultural Affairs (bunka.go.jp) for official religious statistics.

Overview

Religious life for a minority-faith resident in Japan rests on a firm legal guarantee and a thin practical infrastructure. The law protects belief and practice, but it leaves prayer time, prayer space, diet, and leave to negotiation with employers and schools.

Availability depends heavily on where you live. Congregations, halal and kosher food, and prayer rooms cluster around Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba, Ibaraki, Aichi, and Kansai, and residents elsewhere often travel or rely on a smaller local group.²³⁴

Religious freedom and the legal frame

Article 20 of the Constitution guarantees 信教の自由 (shinkyō no jiyū, "freedom of religion") to everyone in Japan, not only citizens.¹ It also bars the State from granting privileges to any religious organization and bars religious organizations from exercising political authority.¹

Two further clauses matter in daily life. No person may be compelled to take part in any religious act, celebration, rite, or practice, and the State and its organs must refrain from religious education or any other religious activity.¹

Most established congregations are registered as a 宗教法人 (shūkyō hōjin, "religious corporation") under the 宗教法人法 (Shūkyō Hōjin Hō, "Religious Corporations Act"). The Act exists to give religious organizations legal capacity to own and manage worship facilities and other property.⁵

Incorporation is not a licence to worship. The same article states that nothing in the Act restricts any individual or group from spreading teachings, holding ceremonies, or carrying out other religious activities.⁵

Viral claims that Japan has banned mosques, burqas, halal food, or the call to prayer are false. The Japan Fact-check Center rated one such claim false, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Religious Affairs Division told the fact-checkers it "does not prohibit any religious activities" (as of August 2026; confirm current details with the Agency for Cultural Affairs).⁶

At work, the statutory anchor is Article 3 of the 労働基準法 (Rōdō Kijun Hō, "Labor Standards Act"). It forbids employers from discriminating in wages, working hours, or other working conditions on the grounds of nationality, 信条 (shinjō, "creed"), or social status.⁷

The article speaks only to discrimination in working conditions. Its text says nothing about prayer time, prayer space, or religious leave, and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) notes that Article 3 does not restrict hiring decisions themselves.⁷⁸ The workplace section below explains what this means in practice.

How large each community is

The Agency for Cultural Affairs publishes the 宗教年鑑 (Shūkyō Nenkan, "Religion Yearbook") from an annual 宗教統計調査 (shūkyō tōkei chōsa, "religious statistics survey") taken as of 31 December.⁹¹⁰ The latest edition, 令和7年版, reports the figures below (as of 2024-12-31).¹⁰

Tradition group	Adherents reported	Share of total	Religious corporations	As of
Shinto (神道系)	86,359,612	49.3%	84,014	2024-12-3110
Buddhist (仏教系)	80,463,918	46.0%	76,493	2024-12-3110
Christian (キリスト教系)	1,872,320	1.1%	4,791	2024-12-3110
Other (諸教)	6,358,197	3.6%	12,852	2024-12-3110
Total	175,054,047	100%	178,150	2024-12-3110

Read these as organizational self-reports, not headcounts. The source itself states that each religious organization sets its own definition of an adherent and counts by its own method, which is why the total exceeds Japan's population.¹⁰

The survey reports only these four groups. Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and Sikhism do not appear as separate categories, so their size has to come from other sources.¹⁰

For Muslims, the most detailed estimates come from Tanada Hirofumi, Professor Emeritus at Waseda University. His September 2026 edition estimates about 510,000 Muslims in Japan, roughly 0.4% of the population (as of 2025-12-31).²

That figure combines 446,645 foreign Muslims and about 58,000 Japanese Muslims (as of 2025-12-31).² Tanada derives it mainly from nationality data, multiplying residence statistics by each country's Muslim share, not from religious surveys or self-declaration.²

The same study lists 168 mosques in 144 municipalities (as of June 2026), up from three before the war and four in the early 1980s.²

Prefecture	Mosques	As of
Aichi (愛知)	19	2026-062
Tokyo (東京)	17	2026-062
Saitama (埼玉)	17	2026-062
Ibaraki (茨城)	12	2026-062
Chiba (千葉)	10	2026-062
Gunma (群馬)	8	2026-062
Osaka (大阪)	7	2026-062
Kanagawa (神奈川)	6	2026-062

This article gives no national count for Jewish, Hindu, or Sikh residents, because no official or dated academic figure could be confirmed. Nationality statistics can show where some communities cluster, as the Hindu and Sikh section below does for Indian residents of Tokyo, but nationality is not religion.¹¹

For how the Shinto and Buddhist majority actually relates to its own traditions, see Shinto and Buddhism as Practice, Not Belief.

Finding a congregation

The quickest route to a congregation is usually an umbrella body's directory rather than a general web search. Every listing below carries a date, because small congregations move, merge, and change service times.

Where to look: directories and umbrella bodies

For Catholics, the Catholic Tokyo International Center (CTIC) English Pastoral "Foreign Masses" page indexes Masses in 13 languages: English, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Korean, Chinese, Myanmar, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, German, and Polish (as of October 2026; confirm current listings with CTIC).³ It covers parishes in the Archdiocese of Tokyo only, in Tokyo, Tama, and Chiba.³

For English-speaking Protestants, the National Christian Council in Japan (NCC-J) lists four union churches, described as English-speaking, international, ecumenical congregations, in Tokyo, Mitaka, Yokohama, and Kobe (as of October 2026).⁴

For Muslims, the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) Muslim guide links to Japan Masjid Finder for mosques and prayer spaces, alongside restaurant directories and regional Muslim-friendly guides published by prefectures and cities from Hokkaido to Okinawa (as of October 2026).¹² Tanada's national mosque list, organized by municipality with founding years, is a dated academic reference for where mosques exist (as of June 2026).²

Universities can also help. In a 2017 survey in the Chubu region, Kanazawa University ran a non-denominational prayer room with ablution facilities, managed by its international student organization (as of December 2017).¹³

Mosques and Islamic centers

Two historic mosques anchor the community. Kobe Mosque (神戸モスク) in Chuo-ku, Kobe, founded in 1935, is first in Tanada's national list, and Tokyo Camii (東京ジャーミイ, Tōkyō Jāmii) in Shibuya-ku dates from 1938.²

Tokyo Camii was rebuilt between 1998 and 2000, with its opening ceremony on 30 June 2000.¹⁴ It describes itself as "the largest Muslim mosque in Japan," with room for 630 worshippers in the main area and 2,000 when other sections are opened (as of October 2026).¹⁴

Tokyo Camii's listed services include Shahada (testimony of faith) certificates, Nikah (marriage), Janazah (funeral service) arranged on request, lectures, and mosque tours (as of October 2026).¹⁵ Its halal market at 1-19 Oyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, opens daily 10:00–19:00 and also sells online, with proceeds going to the mosque and people in need (as of October 2026).¹⁶

Otsuka Mosque (大塚モスク) in Toshima-ku, Tokyo, dates from 1999.² The Japan Islamic Trust (日本イスラーム文化センター), based in Minami-Otsuka, Toshima-ku, holds seminars and study sessions at Masjid Otsuka and lists Janazah, Nikah, Shahada, and halal certification among its services (as of October 2026).¹⁷

Most mosques in Japan are recent. Tanada's list shows most founded from 1991 onward, in industrial and suburban municipalities such as Kasukabe (1991), Isesaki (1995), Ebina (1998), and Nagoya (1998).²

Churches with services in English and other languages

St. Ignatius Church (聖イグナチオ教会) in Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, near JR Yotsuya Station, holds weekend Masses in seven languages.¹⁸¹⁹ Its schedule is below (as of October 2026).¹⁹

Language	Time	Place	As of
Japanese	Sundays 7:00, 8:30, 10:00	Main church	2026-1019
English	Sundays 12:00; Saturdays 17:30 (anticipated Mass, from 2026-02-21)	Main church	2026-1019
Spanish	Sundays 13:30	Main church	2026-1019
Vietnamese	Sundays 15:00	Main church	2026-1019
Portuguese	1st Sunday 13:30	Our Lady's Chapel	2026-1019
Polish	1st Sunday 16:00	Our Lady's Chapel	2026-1019
Indonesian	2nd and 4th Sundays 16:30	Our Lady's Chapel	2026-1019

Even at this parish, weekday Masses are in Japanese only, so do not assume a large church offers foreign-language services every day.¹⁹

NCC-J lists four union churches holding English-language Protestant services (as of October 2026).⁴

Church	Area	Founded	English service times	As of
Tokyo Union Church	Central Tokyo	1872	8:30, 11:00	2026-104
West Tokyo Union Church	Mitaka	1965	Not stated by NCC-J	2026-104
Yokohama Union Church	Yokohama	1863	10:30	2026-104
Kobe Union Church	Kobe (Mt. Rokko)	1871	9:55	2026-104

NCC-J describes Yokohama Union Church as the oldest ecumenical, international, English-speaking Protestant church in Japan.⁴

For Orthodox Christians, the Holy Resurrection Cathedral in Kanda Surugadai, Chiyoda-ku, known as Nikolai-do, was completed in 1891 and named after Archbishop Nikolai Kasatkin.²⁰

Synagogues and the Jewish community

The Jewish Community of Japan (JCJ) is at 3-8-4 Hiroo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, and all visitors must arrange visits in advance through the JCJ office (as of October 2026).²¹ Its kosher kitchen is supervised day to day by the JCJ rabbi acting as mashgiach (as of October 2026).²²

Chabad Lubavitch of Japan, at 1-5-23 Takanawa, Minato-ku, opened in 2000. It offers Shabbat and holiday meals, Chana's Place kosher restaurant, a mikvah, and a Hebrew school (as of October 2026).²³

In Kyoto, the first permanent Chabad House opened in 2019 (as of March 2019).²⁴ In Kobe, the Kansai community worships at the Ohel Shlomo synagogue, and Chabad representatives who arrived in 2014 were offering prayer services and classes according to a November 2014 report (as of November 2014).²⁵ Confirm current Kansai arrangements directly with the community before visiting.

Hindu and Sikh temples

The Indian community's main hub is Edogawa Ward in eastern Tokyo, home to 8,248 Indian nationals, about 41% of Tokyo's 20,003 (as of 2026-01-01).¹¹ These are nationality figures, not religious ones, so treat them as a concentration indicator only.

ISKCON New Gaya, a three-storey temple in Funabori, Edogawa-ku, opened in July 2011.²⁶ At opening it included a vegetarian Govinda's restaurant and a Vedic culture center (as of December 2011).²⁶

Sikh gurdwaras exist in Kobe and Tokyo, where an academic study describes them as both religious and social spaces for the community (as of 2019).²⁷

Where communities concentrate

The table summarizes where each tradition's sourced facilities cluster and where to check current listings (as of October 2026, with older entries dated in the table).

Tradition	Main hubs	How to find current listings	As of
Islam	Aichi, Tokyo, Saitama, Ibaraki, Chiba; Kobe Mosque and Tokyo Camii as historic anchors2	Japan Masjid Finder via JNTO; Tanada's mosque list122	2026-06 / 2026-10
Catholic	Archdiocese of Tokyo parishes in Tokyo, Tama, and Chiba3	CTIC Foreign Masses page3	2026-10
Protestant (English)	Tokyo, Mitaka, Yokohama, Kobe union churches4	NCC-J union churches page4	2026-10
Orthodox	Tokyo (Nikolai-do)20	Confirm with the cathedral	n/a
Judaism	Tokyo (JCJ in Hiroo, Chabad in Takanawa), Kyoto (Chabad), Kobe (Ohel Shlomo)21232425	JCJ and Chabad sites	2026-10 / 2019 / 2014-11
Hindu (ISKCON) and Indian community	Edogawa, Tokyo2611	ISKCON New Gaya	2011 / 2026-01
Sikh	Kobe, Tokyo27	Confirm within the community	2019

Praying away from home

Outside a mosque, finding somewhere to pray takes planning. JNTO notes that prayer rooms and mosques are mostly found in larger cities, with major airports, tourist spots, and Muslim-friendly hotels increasingly offering places to pray (as of October 2026; confirm current facilities with each airport or station operator).²⁸

Prayer rooms at airports and stations

The three main international airports all have prayer rooms, but some sit airside, past security, and are usable only by departing international passengers (as of October 2026).²⁹³⁰

Airport	Prayer room locations	Notes	As of
Narita	T1 Central Building 2F (after security, international) and 3F (before security); T2 Main Building 1F (after and before security); T3 Main Building 2F (before security) and 3F (after security, international)	Open to all prayer, meditation, and reflection	2026-1029
Haneda	No room in Terminal 1; Terminal 2 3F international general area (2 rooms) and 2F international airside (2 rooms); Terminal 3 3F general area (2 rooms)	Ablution facilities	2026-1030
Kansai (KIX)	Terminal 1 3F and the international gate area	Prayer and ablution spaces separated by gender; free	2026-1031

At Tokyo Station, JR East's 祈祷室 (kitōshitsu, "prayer room") sits inside the JR EAST Travel Service Center at JAPAN RAIL CAFÉ, 1F GRAN TOKYO NORTH TOWER, outside the Yaesu Central Exit. The prayer room is available 10:00–17:00 (as of October 2026).³²

When the room opened in June 2017, JR East described it as space for about two people with a small 小浄 (shōjō, "minor ablution") facility, open to all religions.³³ The current page does not restate capacity or ablution facilities, so confirm on arrival.³²

Do not assume other large stations offer the same. JR East's Shinjuku Travel Service Center page, for example, lists no prayer room (as of October 2026).³⁴

At work and at school

Prayer during the workday is a matter for agreement with your employer. Labor Standards Act Article 3 prohibits creed-based discrimination in working conditions, but it creates no duty to provide prayer time, prayer space, or religious leave.⁷

Article 3 bans discrimination, not inaction

An employer may not pay or treat you worse because of your religion, but nothing in Article 3 obliges it to set aside a prayer room or shift your breaks. Accommodation, where it exists, is employer practice.⁷

The best available picture of that practice is regional and dated. A 2017 survey by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications' Chubu regional office covered 20 businesses and 15 universities in six prefectures (Aichi, Toyama, Ishikawa, Gifu, Shizuoka, Mie), not a national sample (as of December 2017).¹³

Accommodation	Businesses (of 20)	Universities (of 15)	As of
Any prayer accommodation	14 (70%)	8 (53.3%)	2017-1213
Prayer space provided	60%	47%	2017-1213
Wudu (ablution) facilities	55%	13%	2017-1213
Meal accommodation (halal menus, pork labeling)	13 (65%)	12 (80%)	2017-1213

Examples in that survey included turning a break room into a prayer room, converting a bathroom into a wudu shower, and opening an unused factory room for prayer.¹³ One employer let staff attend a nearby group prayer every Friday during working hours, and a university avoided calling students in early on Friday afternoons so they could reach a mosque.¹³ These are examples, not a norm.

For schools, the same survey asked 20 city boards of education in Chubu, which said schools consult individually with pupils and parents (as of December 2017).¹³ Reported practices included a separate room for prayer (10 boards), headscarves allowed (7), and a supervised separate room at lunchtime during Ramadan (7).¹³

Because the boards described handling requests through individual consultation, raise practical needs with the homeroom teacher or school early.¹³

Food and dietary observance

Japan has no central halal accreditation agency, and ordinary supermarkets generally do not stock halal products (as of October 2026; confirm current guidance with JNTO).²⁸ Kosher food is available through community organizations in a few cities only.²²²³²⁴

Halal: certification and sourcing

Halal certification in Japan is issued by several private bodies rather than one national authority.²⁸³⁵ JETRO's 2026 list of certification bodies in Japan recognized by JAKIM, Malaysia's halal authority, names the six below (as of 2026).³⁵

Body	Japanese name	Notes	As of
Japan Islamic Trust (JIT)	日本イスラーム文化センター	Based in Minami-Otsuka, Toshima-ku; holds study sessions at Masjid Otsuka17	202635
Japan Halal Association (JHA)	NPO法人 日本ハラール協会	NPO founded in Osaka in 201036	202635
Nippon Asia Halal Association (NAHA)	NPO法人 日本アジアハラール協会	NPO	202635
Japan Halal Foundation (JHF)	ジャパン・ハラール・ファンデーション		202635
Japan Muslim Association (JMA)	宗教法人 日本ムスリム協会	Religious corporation founded 1953; certifies products for export37	202635
Muslim Professional Japan Association (MPJA)	ムスリム・プロフェッショナル・ジャパン協会		202635

JHA states that it is recognized by JAKIM, MUIS, BPJPH, HAK, GAC, and MOIAT (as of October 2026).³⁶ JMA describes itself as the oldest Islamic organization in Japan and offers prayer facilities to members and others (as of October 2026).³⁷

For buying, JNTO notes that halal-certified groceries are mostly frozen meat and spices, and some ethnic grocers carry prepared halal curry meals (as of October 2026).²⁸ Tokyo Camii's Halal Market sells both in person and online (as of October 2026).¹⁶

For eating out, JNTO links to restaurant directories including Halal Gourmet Japan, Halal Food in Japan, and Food Diversity (as of October 2026).¹²

For imported groceries more broadly, see Foreign Food in Japan: Problem and Solution Stack.

Kosher sourcing

The sourced kosher options are in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Kobe. In Tokyo, the JCJ runs a rabbi-supervised kosher kitchen, and Chabad operates Chana's Place kosher restaurant (as of October 2026).²²²³

In Kansai, supply has been harder. When Kyoto's Chabad House opened, importing kosher meat required significant paperwork and expense, and its rabbi trained as a shochet to slaughter kosher chickens near Kobe (as of March 2019).²⁴

Reading Japanese labels for hidden ingredients

Japan's allergen labeling has two tiers. Nine 特定原材料 (tokutei genzairyō, "specified allergens") must be labeled, while 20 特定原材料に準ずるもの (tokutei genzairyō ni junzuru mono, "allergens with recommended labeling") are labeled only on a recommended basis (as of April 2026).³⁸

Pork (豚肉) and gelatin (ゼラチン) are both in the recommended tier, not the mandatory one (as of April 2026).³⁸

A missing pork notation does not mean pork-free

Because pork and gelatin labeling is recommended rather than required, a product without a pork or gelatin allergen notation may still contain them. Treat a missing notation as no information, not as confirmation.³⁸

Some food falls outside allergen labeling entirely: food sold unpackaged or loose, food served in restaurants or delivered, and alcoholic beverages, including alcohol used in manufacture (as of April 2026).³⁸ The flow below shows what a label can and cannot tell you.

School lunch and religious diets

Municipal 給食 (kyūshoku, "school lunch") is a shared menu, and how a school handles religious diets is set locally. Kobe City, for example, allows pupils to stop school lunch in whole or in part for allergy or religious reasons, with advance notice and consultation with the school (as of April 2025).³⁹

In the 2017 Chubu survey, 14 of 20 boards of education allowed packed lunches and 8 removed pork from lunches (as of December 2017).¹³ For the request procedure, see School Lunch Allergies and Religious Dietary Accommodations.

Religious holidays and observance at work

Arrangements for fasting and festivals at work are employer practice, as with daily prayer. The only published examples come from the 2017 Chubu survey of 20 businesses (as of December 2017; confirm current practice with your own employer).¹³

No public holidays for minority-faith festivals

None of Japan's 16 国民の祝日 (kokumin no shukujitsu, "national holidays") is Christmas, Eid, Yom Kippur, Diwali, Vaisakhi, or Orthodox Easter, so those days bring no public holiday.⁴⁰

Most employees use annual paid leave instead. After six months of continuous employment with at least 80% attendance, the employer must grant 10 working days of paid leave.⁴¹

The employer must grant leave at the time you request it, but may move it if that timing would hinder normal business operations.⁴¹ For fixed-date festivals, that right to shift the date is the main risk.

Request festival leave well in advance

Because an employer may move requested leave that would disrupt normal operations, submit requests for Eid, Yom Kippur, Diwali, or similar fixed dates as early as you can and explain why the date itself matters.⁴¹

For accrual and request mechanics, see Paid Leave (Yukyu-Kyuka) and How It's Taken.

Fasting and observance during the workday

Ramadan arrangements are negotiated, not guaranteed. In the Chubu survey, one employer checked fasting staff's health at the morning meeting, and another scheduled willing staff on two consecutive weeks of night shifts instead of alternating, since they skipped lunch (as of December 2017).¹³

Those are examples from one region, not a norm. As general practice rather than any rule, raising your observance with a manager before the fast begins leaves time to agree on breaks or shifts.

Work drinking events are a separate pressure point. For how those events run, see Workplace Seasonal Events: Bonenkai, Shinnenkai, Kangeikai, Sobetsukai.

Keeping your traditions alongside Japanese ones

For keeping your own festivals and family customs alongside the Japanese seasonal calendar, see The Mixed Foreign-Tradition Reality.

Funerals, burial, and community support at the end of life

Faith communities can arrange funeral rites, but the legal steps after a death follow national procedure. This section routes you to both.

Community funeral services

Tokyo Camii arranges Janazah (Islamic funeral service) on request through its contact form or by phone (as of October 2026; confirm current arrangements with the mosque).¹⁵ The Japan Islamic Trust also lists Janazah among its services (as of October 2026).¹⁷

For other traditions, contact your own congregation or clergy directly. As a general precaution rather than a legal step, recording your wishes and a community contact in advance tells your family whom to call.

For the official procedure, see When a Foreign Resident Dies in Japan: The First 14 Days. For putting your wishes in legally effective form, see Wills for Foreign Residents in Japan: Types, Law, and Validity.

Burial is lawful but scarce

National law permits in-ground burial: the 墓地、埋葬等に関する法律 (Bochi, Maisō-tō ni Kansuru Hōritsu, "Act on Cemeteries and Burials") allows burial in a licensed cemetery and cremation at a crematorium.⁴²⁴³ In practice, cremation is almost universal, with 490 burials against 1,627,558 cremations, or 99.97% cremation (as of FY2022).⁴⁴

For local restrictions, cemeteries that accept burial, and costs, see Repatriation of Remains vs. Cremation in Japan.

Good to know

Outside major cities, expect travel or Japanese-only services

Facilities follow the big metropolitan areas, and some prefectures have none. Akita, Wakayama, and Yamaguchi have no mosque in Tanada's list (as of June 2026; confirm current listings with the Tanada mosque list).²

Communities are spreading faster than facilities. The share of Japan's Muslims living in the three big metropolitan areas fell from 82% in 1990 to 67% (as of 2023-12-31), with Hokkaido's share rising.⁴⁵

Catholic foreign-language listings follow the same pattern. CTIC's index covers only the Archdiocese of Tokyo, so residents elsewhere need to contact their own diocese or parish.³

Listings go stale quickly

Tanada's 2026 list marks Takamatsu Mosque in Kagawa and the Arab Islamic Institute in Minato-ku as closed (as of June 2026).² Tokyo Station's prayer room has moved from the Marunouchi side, where it opened in 2017, to GRAN TOKYO NORTH TOWER on the Yaesu side, with new hours (as of October 2026).³²³³

Schedules shift too. St. Ignatius Church added an English Saturday anticipated Mass from 21 February 2026, and the JCJ requires all visits to be arranged in advance (as of October 2026).¹⁹²¹ Confirm with the organization before a first visit, especially for holiday services.

Attending Japanese ceremonies as a person of another faith

The Constitution states that no one may be compelled to take part in a religious act, celebration, rite, or practice.¹ Schools have applied this in small ways: one Chubu board of education reported letting pupils opt out of shrine visits on school trips (as of December 2017).¹³

For what a guest is expected to do at a Buddhist funeral, see Funeral Etiquette in Japan. For Shinto, chapel, and civil weddings, see Wedding Etiquette: Shinto, Christian-Chapel, Civil.

Local opposition and the social climate

Some mosque projects have met local resistance. East Asia Forum reported that a mosque construction plan in Fujisawa faced pushback in late 2025, including an online petition with more than 32,000 signatures and false claims of an on-site burial cemetery (as of July 2026).⁴⁶

The same report notes that a mosque in nearby Ebina has caused no major problems, and that some mosques provide free meals, disaster relief, and community events (as of July 2026).⁴⁶

If treatment crosses into discrimination, the Ministry of Justice runs Human Rights Counseling for Foreigners at 0570-090-911, weekdays 9:00–17:00 except public holidays and 29 December to 3 January, and online (as of October 2026).⁴⁷ It handles unfair discrimination against foreigners in English, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Nepali, Spanish, Indonesian, and Thai.⁴⁷ For the wider picture, see The Patterns Foreign Residents Encounter and The Limited Statutory Protection.

See also

• Resilience and Recourse Strategies
• After-Death Procedures in Japan: The Administrative Checklist
• The Three Main Labor Statutes
• Homeroom Teacher (Tannin) in Japanese Schools
• The Foreign-Resident Community Structure

References

Footnotes

1. e-Gov 法令検索 (Digital Agency). 日本国憲法 第二十条. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/2/law_data/321CONSTITUTION?elm=MainProvision-Article_20&response_format=xml ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. 店田廣文 (Tanada Hirofumi, Professor Emeritus, Waseda University). 「日本のムスリム人口 2026年」, Research Papers: Muslims in Japan No. 31, 多民族多世代社会研究所, September 2026. Linked from https://www.imemgs.com/foreign-research/848/ . PDF: https://www.imemgs.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AE%E3%83%A0%E3%82%B9%E3%83%AA%E3%83%A0%E4%BA%BA%E5%8F%A3-%EF%BC%92%EF%BC%90%EF%BC%92%EF%BC%96%E5%B9%B4-1.pdf ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹² ↩¹³ ↩¹⁴ ↩¹⁵ ↩¹⁶ ↩¹⁷ ↩¹⁸ ↩¹⁹ ↩²⁰ ↩²¹ ↩²²

3. Catholic Tokyo International Center (CTIC), English Pastoral. "Foreign Masses." https://e-pastoral.ctic.jp/sample-page/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶

4. National Christian Council in Japan (NCC-J). "Union Churches." https://ncc-j.org/event/union_churches/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

5. e-Gov 法令検索 (Digital Agency). 宗教法人法（昭和二十六年法律第百二十六号）第一条. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/2/law_data/326AC0000000126?elm=MainProvision-Article_1&response_format=xml ↩ ↩²

6. Japan Fact-check Center. "Did Japan Enact an Anti-Islam Law Banning Mosques and Burqas? Misinformation Spreads Again." 2026-08-28. https://www.factcheckcenter.jp/english/religion/japan-has-not-enacted-anti-islamic-laws-en/ ↩

7. e-Gov 法令検索 (Digital Agency). 労働基準法（昭和二十二年法律第四十九号）第三条. https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/api/2/law_data/322AC0000000049?elm=MainProvision-Article_3&response_format=xml ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

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