Japanese city upends 30-year Muslim park prayer custom, straining multiculturalism

AdvertisementJapanAsiaEast AsiaJapanese city upends 30-year Muslim park prayer custom, straining multiculturalismThe Ichikawa mayor’s decision to restrict the gathering sparks debate on multicultural coexistence in Japan amid discrimination concerns3-MIN READ3-MIN ListenKyodoPublished: 12:47pm, 10 Jul 2026A decision by a city near Tokyo to bar a mosque from holding a long-standing outdoor prayer session in one of its parks has triggered debate over multicultural coexistence in Japan, with questions raised over whether officials had sufficient grounds for the move.The dispute began in May when a mosque in Ichikawa, Chiba prefecture, was denied permission to hold a group prayer in the public park, located in a residential neighbourhood, during a festival that had been held there for years with city approval.The decision followed criticism on social media of scenes from a prayer session held in the park last autumn.

The city initially sought to cancel the festival altogether but later reached a compromise with organisers, allowing the event to proceed as a social gathering without the outdoor prayer component.The festival, held on a weekday morning, drew people dressed in traditional attire who shared meals and posed for photographs.Abdullah Miyazawa, a 56-year-old representative of the mosque originally from Pakistan, said the festival had been held twice a year for about three decades.

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