The Beppu City Muslim Friendly club organized with mostly Muslim exchange students published 10,000 copies of “Muslim Friendly Map” featuring information on restaurants, hot springs, accommodations, and hospitals within the city responding to “halal.” Thousand copies of “Manual for hospitality for Muslim people” were made as reference material for each institute. These manuals were intended to be used by exchange students unfamiliar to living in a new environment along with tourists. The map is distributed in publication facilities, JR Beppu station, etc.
Nineteen facilities in Beppu city is listed in the map, including restaurants serving dishes without using pork and alcohol with menus that may be enjoyed by Muslim people, hot springs with reserved bathtubs allowing people to bathe without showing their skin in public, and hospitals where doctors of the same gender carries out medical examination as much as possible with English-speaking staffs.
Article on hot spring
Onsen in My Perspective as Muslim Woman
Total of 10 exchange students and alumni of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) actually visited these institutes and selected them upon confirming the working process.
This project was commenced in September of last year with the proposal of Zafar Said (33) from Pakistan, who is an alumnus of APU and the representative of Friendly group, in order to support exchange students. Approximately 300 Islam people live in Beppu city, and many people visit the mosque from inside and outside of Oita prefecture. Tourists from Southeast Asian countries with many Islam people are also on the increase.
