My experience with Halal food availability in Hokkaido from 2007

## “There is a room for improvement of Halal situation in Japan”

Written by Guizani Mokhtar san

In 2007 I landed in Hokkaido for the first time and I joined Hokkaido University for PhD course program. Availability of Halal food was a major problem and shopping took hours from my time. To find the proper food I can buy, I had to spend long time in the stores trying to read ingredients list and decide on my own if the product can be consumed as Halal or not.

As a beginner in a Japanese course class, Ingredients list written in Japanese made the task more difficult. So I had to carry a list of non Halal ingredients with me while shopping to decide what to buy and what to avoid. Unfortunately, I bought many non Halal products due misunderstanding of the information in the ingredients, and those products ended up in the garbage box. During visit to our home country or when travelling for conference, I used to take the opportunity to shop some Halal products and carry them with me. To sum up, obtaining Halal food in my early years in Japan was a unique and unforgettable experience.

Today, things has changed dramatically thanks to the significant efforts spent by Japan on this matter. Many Shops and restaurants can provide Halal food in Hokkaido, and wide range of products with Halal certification is now available. Hokkaido University Muslim students, researchers and staff can now enjoy two Halal menus at Hokkaido University central cafeteria. Availability of Halal food in the cafeteria made our life easier, free of worry while focusing on study and research.

Due to my frequent travels to kanto region, I can say that the ease of access to Halal food in kanto region exceeds that of Hokkaido. Indeed, while Hokkaido University central cafeteria offers two Halal menus only, the cafeteria of Tsukuba University offers more options and different cuisine. Eventhough there is a room for improvement, the big achievement I witnessed since 2007 is highly appreciated and acknowledged on my behalf and on behalf all Muslims residing or visiting Hokkaido Island.

Hokkaidou University Cafeteria