Written by Sk. Nishat Abdullah-san
The day I arrived in Tokyo, it was Ramadan. Ramadan is a religious month in Islam when all the Muslims keep fasting. The fasting starts from before sunrise and finishes at sunset. During this time, eating, drinking and some other activities are prohibited. However I was also fasting on that day and when I arrived in Haneda International Airport, it was 1400 in noon. As I am a medical doctor and came here to take part in a fellowship program, A senior Japanese doctor came to receive me. He had merely any ideas about Islam and Halal. After reaching my residence, he was instructed to offer me a dinner. Actually, after day long fasting, taking Iftar (the dinner that is taken after fasting is over) is also considered as a prayer. But the condition is that, the food must be Halal. I was not fortunate enough to find a Halal restaurant at that moment, though later I came to know that the Halal Italian restaurant “Pran Pone” was located within 200 meters of that place. At that time I was hungry and thirsty also. The dinner we took was very tasty, satisfying for my tongue, but not for my heart. It was a yakiniku restaurant and off course not Halal. I don’t know whether my dinner was accepted as a prayer to Allah or not. Just due to lack of information I was bound to eat Non Halal food.
Later, as the days were passing by, I tried to find a mosque to say my prayer. But, that also appeared very difficult. Because, the doctors in my hospital had neither any idea about any mosque nor its location near my residence or workplace . I could find some mosques using Google Maps, but, I did not understand which would be more convenient to reach. Even, when I contact some Muslim people over telephone, they also could not suggest me which mosque would be nearer and more convenient to my place due to the complex transportation system in Tokyo. In this way, It took about 12 days to reach in a mosque for the 1st time in Tokyo. Again I had to suffer due to lack of information.I really felt the need for a Muslim friendly map or software which can guide a newcomer in Tokyo easily reach in a mosque.
By the time, fasting (Danjiki) was going on and I had to live on eating bread, rice and eggs (though later I knew that even breads were not always Halal). Getting the 1st weekend (after one week) I took the mission to find a Halal food shop. As one Bangladeshi friend told me about Ikebukuro, I went to search for a halal food shop in Ikebukuro. It appeared to me as a hard nut to crack. The weather was very hot, and I walked around Ikebukuro for about 3 hrs to find a halal food shop from where I could buy chicken. Later, I discovered many shops selling halal foods, but still I cannot forget the day.
Finding a Halal shop in a distant place practically appeared not to be a good solution even. Every time I need something Halal, I don’t have enough time, stamina or opportunity for different reasons. I think, if the convenient stores in Japan start to keep at least 2 or 3 Halal food items, it could dramatically change the life of Muslims living in Japan. I really do not expect that newcomers in Japan will continue to face the difficulty like me to maintain their lifestyle in an Islamic way. Besides eating food in house, prepared from those bought from Halal shops can allow one to just pass the life which cannot be enough. Sometimes eating in different restaurants adds recreation and pleasures to life when it becomes uneventful and monotonous. For that reason, restaurant serving Halal foods appeared to become reliever for Muslim people in Tokyo.
Halal restaurant search site is here.
http://halalgourmet.jp
As the number of Halal shops or Mosques in Tokyo cannot be made abundant overnight, it needs an excellent, integrated information system. I find that, the reason of my suffering is also the lack of information. It is the time for information Technology. No one expects to wait for the help from some person who will come and show some Halal shop. Moreover, it is difficult for anyone (Japanese or Foreign people) to tell the name of the train station or direction of a Halal shop or mosque from anywhere in Tokyo. I feel the need of more Muslim friendly software, which can help them locating their own position using GPS and guide them accordingly. Many Japanese people have been adopted themselves in Muslim friendly business in Tokyo so far. I hope anyone working in IT sector; can adopt this Idea to develop a software or mobile application for providing different Muslim friendly information in Japan.
