Newsletter No. 971
News-Analysis
April 9, 2008

 

The following information has been provided by Toyoko Morita (Shingetsu Member No. 12). Morita is based at Kobe University.

THE ABSENCE OF CEMETARIES IS A SERIOUS PROBLEM FOR MUSLIMS IN JAPAN

It was recently reported that under the patronage of Saudi Ambassador Faisal bin Hassan Trad, a contract for the establishment of an Islamic cemetery in Japan was signed. It is not clear from the report where exactly this cemetery would be located, but this is surely welcome news for Muslims in Japan.

On January 18th of this year the Kobe Shinbun reported that the shortage of Islamic cemeteries has become a serious problem for Muslims in Japan, especially those who live in the Osaka region.

Statistics say that 97.9% of the dead were cremated in Japan in 1993; and in Tokyo nearly 100% are cremated. Of course, cremation is the custom of Buddhism; but before the Meiji era it was actually customary for Japanese people to bury their dead. Thus, the history of cremation in Japan is a very short one. The Meiji government believed that cremation was a mark of ‘modernization,’ and so a new law about cemeteries was enacted which prohibited burial in large cities. As a result of these efforts, the percentage of cremation in Japan rose from 30% in 1900, to 54% in 1950, to 63% in 1960, to 70% in 1970, and finally to 91% in 1980. Nowadays, people in Japan tend to think that burial is a bad thing from the point of view of sanitation and the environment.

There is currently no law which prohibits burial in Japan. However, some large cities like Tokyo or Osaka have local ordinances which prohibit it. If a municipality or the manager of the cemetery does not allow it, the dead cannot be buried. For Muslims -- who maintain the custom of burial and not cremation -- this creates a special cultural and religious difficulty.

There are special cemeteries for Muslims in Tokyo and Hokkaido, but there is no such place in Osaka. Near Osaka there is the city of Kobe where historically many foreigners such as Christians or Muslims have lived. In Kobe there is a cemetery for foreigners in which the burial is possible. However, it can be used only for the citizens of Kobe city.

It is said that there are about 2,000 Muslims in Osaka now. They are facing a serious problem about the cemetery issue. Since the 1990s, the number of Muslims who came to Japan as immigrant workers and who married Japanese women is increasing. If they cannot find cemeteries in Japan, they are compelled to send their dead to their home countries by airplane at a very high cost.

Since death, too, is part of our lives, this is really a serious problem. Japanese and Muslims should find ways to cooperate and show more sensitivity to various cultural and religious needs.