 "The evening sun breaks through the trees behind a tombstone at a cemetery in Japan. Muslims in the country are asking for more burial plots but are facing stiff opposition. Representational image/Reuters")
Should one be buried or cremated? That’s the one question that has Japanese Muslims in a quandary, as the community struggles with the lack of burial plots. The situation has worsened in recent times with some in the Asian country taking to social media and making hostile comments to block Muslims from acquiring plots of land to bury their dead according to 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 you the full story.
Muslims’ plea for more burial spots
In 2020, the Beppu Muslim Association sought approval from the town of Hiji, on the southern island of Kyushu, to establish a cemetery where Muslims could be laid to rest.
Similar requests have been made across the country too. For instance, a resident in Miyagi Prefecture had appealed to Governor Yoshihiro Murai for a burial plot, saying that living in Japan “is very difficult” for his family because of the lack of graves.
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.
As of today, Japan has only about 10 major locations with burial sites in Japan with religious affiliations.
Pushback on Muslims’ request for burial spots
However, the request for such burial grounds from Muslims is facing stiff opposition from some local Japanese. In the case of the burial plot in the Miyagi prefecture, there have been over 400 complaints against the proposed cemetery, with many claiming that it could be a “potential health hazard,” such as contamination of 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.”
Incidentally, Japanese law does not prohibit interment. However, there are ordinances banning burials in some areas on public hygiene grounds.
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 on the same, he said that he has taken legal action against a prominent YouTuber whose been making incorrect and misleading attacks. “I cannot believe I am having to take this step,” said Khan, who has lived in Japan since 2001 and became a Japanese national more than a decade ago.
According to Khan, the YouTuber claims that he is attempting to turn Japan into a Muslim-majority nation and that his efforts to secure a graveyard were merely the first step in this campaign.
“At first, I thought I should not respond because that would only make things worse, but now I see a lot of people are taking her words and sharing them,” Khan told South China Morning Post.
He further said that there are also multiple incorrect claims that taxpayers’ money would be used for the cemetery. Khan said that this was misleading and that the costs of the proposed cemetery would be borne by the Beppu Muslim Association.
“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.
Speaking to Kyodo News, he added that he would continue his pursuit of a cemetery. “We cannot give up on graves for the sake of 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 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 to Kyodo News. “Even if I am criticised, we have to do something about this,” he added.
He further stated, “It’s important we meet the needs of such people.”
Japan’s history of cremation
The Muslims’ call for burial is in variance to Japan’s tradition of cremation. Traditionally, in Japan, most people are cremated; one report even claims that Japan has the world’s highest rate of cremation. A 2012 report by the Cremation Society of Great Britain recorded Japan’s cremation rate, the highest in the world, as 99.9 per cent. Taiwan has the second highest rate with 90.8 per cent, followed by Hong Kong (89.9 per cent), Switzerland (84.6 per cent), Thailand (80 per cent), and Singapore (79.7 per cent).
It is said that as Buddhism spread through Japan, so did the practice of cremation. But in 1873, Japan banned cremation, claiming that burning bodies was disrespectful to the dead and jeopardised public morality and that the resulting smoke was a public health concern.
In May 1875, less than two years after it passed, the ban was reversed. Two decades later, in 1897, the Japanese government ruled that anyone who died of a communicable disease had to be cremated.
And today, cremation is the choice for most.
With inputs from agencies