Muslim friendly service and what it means to work with Muslim people

Written By Karaoke Honpo Manekineko Yotsuya Sancho-me store Faridah & Yamatani

Hello everyone, I am Yamatani, the manager at Karaoke Honpo Makekineko Yotsuya Sancho-me store. We are a karaoke store where Muslim customers can enjoy karaoke, which is a Japanese tradition, as well as HALAL-friendly food without worry.
Today, we get visits from Muslim international students as well as Muslim people travelling to Japan after researching about our store prior to the trip.
Since a year has passed since we opened, I would like to talk about what I felt and also send a message to our customers from our Muslim staff.

At first, it was continuous failure. There were many days where we did not get a single visit by Muslim customers. We listened to the voices of Muslim customers that visit our store and continued to evolve everyday through many trial and errors by promotions and communicating information.

Among these, one of the big turning points was hiring a Muslim employee.
We were worried at first about whether we can provide a good working environment, but we decided to take the chance. As a result, we were was able to learn from her the way Muslim people feel or think and confront these, which became a driving force for us to keep advancing.

Her name is “Faridah,” and her nickname is “Fare.”
She has a message for everyone.

Assalam alaikim! I am Farida from Indonesia！I work at Makekineko Yotsuya Sancho-me store for part time job.

I have always loved Japan, and before I knew it, going to Japan became my dream. I was studying Japanese in a university in Indonesia, but it was not enough. I searched for information in hopes of studying Japanese language and about the country more, and finally, last year, I was blessed with a chance to come to Japan.

I work here part time to study and practice speaking Japanese more. Of course, I also do it for living (laughs). However, being a Muslim, I was a bit anxious about working in Japan. Especially because I am a woman, I was anxious about my daily praying and wearing hijab. I decided to apply at Maenkineko because I can be free from anxiety working at a HALAL-related job with a prayer space.

At first, there were times when I was not able to communicate what I wanted to say or thought, and faced many troubles due to difference in language and culture with my home country. However, even when I made mistakes or failures, the staffs at Manekineko always understood me, which I am very thankful for. I was very fortunate to be able to meet countless number of people and made many friends by working at Manekineko.
Japan is a very safe and wonderful country. I am sure that HALAL-friendly services and prayer spaces will continue to increase in the future, so fellow Muslims, please do not hesitate to visit Japan! Also, make sure to visit Makekineko Yotsuya Sancho-me store! I will be waiting at the store!!!

The above was the message from Fare.The most important thing I promised myself in associating with Muslim customers and staffs was to treat them the same way I treat Japanese people. There are no borders to customers or staffs depending on nationality. They have a different view on some aspects due to their religion, and that is the only difference. Just because we offer HALAL-friendly services, we do not treat Muslims differently. This is because I found from touching upon their peaceful minds, caring for others, and seeing their hard work and determination that they too, do not want to be treated differently.

I believe that we can understand their true intention and feelings by associating with them as same human beings. That is, to understand each other as human being.
I bet this is normal in other parts of the world.

Our goal is to make all Manekineko across Japan HALAL-friendly!!
Please wait for us!!
We would be more than happy if me or Fare’s activities will become a force in developing HALAL in Japan, even by a bit.

[Business Hours]
9:00 to 6:00 the following day
Open 7 days a week

[Price]
Weekdays: 9:00 to 20:00 Free room rate for two hours (At least one drink order required)
20:00 to Close: 30 minutes: 300 yen
All-you-can-sing 18:00 to 23:00 980 yen (At least one drink order required)
22:00 to 5:00 1,380 yen (At least one drink order required)

Weekdays: 9:00 to 20:00 Free room rate for one hour (At least one drink order required)
20:00 to Close: 30 minutes: 350 yen
All-you-can-sing 18:00 to 23:00 1,180 yen (At least one drink order required)
22:00 to 5:00 1,580 yen (At least one drink order required)

[Facebook URL]
https://www.facebook.com/karaoke.halal/

[Coupons] *Only valid for Muslims
By presenting the “HMJ” page on your phone, receive:
1.Two hours free room rate
2.We will double your order of NIKKOKEN gyoza!! (five pieces → ten piece