About Japanese Halal Column Vol.2 by Jahangir Mujahed

Written by Jahangir Mujahed-san

About Japanese Halal Column Vol.1 is here.

Three years ago, I opened an Italian restaurant called “Pran Pone”.
Back then, the restaurant was catered more or less toward Japanese, and in corresponding to such needs, alcoholic beverages were being served at the restaurant which is prohibited in the Islamic religion.
Although I was providing such service, I’ve always had a strong desire to one day re-start the restaurant as a 100% halal corresponding restaurant.
And the time has finally arrived.
Since I was able to meet various Japanese friends who are engaged in halal last year, I was able to renew the existing restaurant and open the “first ever halal corresponding Italian restaurant in Japan”.
For the restaurant, all of the menus are halal corresponding, along with no serving of alcoholic beverages.
Worship space is also provided in the restaurant.
This halal Italian which even from the global standpoint is considered rare, is thoroughly being enjoyed by the Muslim people.
Seeing people leaving the restaurant with them enjoying delicious halal Italian along with them being able to worship at the worship space when the time comes, gives my staff and I a great sense of joy.
Of course, it goes without saying that our Japanese regular customers also continue to come out to the restaurant by giving us their warm support for our new halal policy.
So looking at all these developments, I believe the real connection between Japan and Islamic countries have barely reached at the tip of the starting point.
Various initiatives such as consulting/practical seminars for popularization of halal corresponding restaurants, and sales transaction for commercial use sauce/dressing (with the catch phrase of “can be used instantly”) are already under way in gearing up toward the future expansion.

The quality of taste is something that must be treated with the highest degree of care when making halal food in Japan.
It goes without saying that no food can be enjoyed by people if it doesn’t taste good.
The quality must be delicious, visually enticing, and safe/secure.
Such standard must especially be applied to halal food since it is still at a stage where the food is still not widely recognized in Japan.
For example, just think about a scene where a certain Japanese tried halal food for the first time at a Japanese halal restaurant. If that person thinks of halal food as something that is “awful tasting all around, dull….”, it is almost certain that an equation of “halal=awful food” will forever be implanted in that person’s mind.
If that happens, people are not going to want to spread halal in Japan.
In that sense, it is not an exaggeration to say that halal chefs such as myself are burdened with a great level of responsibility in expanding the halal market.

I also believe that restaurant must be regarded as a place of amazing atmosphere where people are willing to spend their valuable time and money.
Setting up worship space inside the restaurant in satisfying the need of Muslim customer’s prayer time requirement is an important aspect of “Omotenashi”.
Our mission is to provide delicious food, atmosphere where people can relax/enjoy, warm welcoming environment, and customer service infused with passionate spirit.

As I have always done so, I am going to continue to engage in making delicious food!
For the future, I am expecting further increase in the number of Muslims visiting Japan.
I am going to continue to contribute in any way I can to increase halal food/environment, so that our Muslim friends can come visit and live in Japan with peace-of-mind and fun spirit.
I believe taking initiative by my own self first and spreading that to others around me, is the best way to show my gratitude toward all these Japanese friends who supported me up to this point. I am also going to make a firm oath to everyone that I am going to engage in all of these acts for the sake of contributing toward the brighter future of Japan.
So everyone, lets run the race with everything we got for next 5 years toward the Olympic, so that we can realize a kind of global expansion that is true and authentic!