“Halal Yakiniku Kou” – the new Halal Yakiniku restaurant opened in Sapporo

Written by Sk. Nishat Abdullah-san

Hokkaido, the island of unlimited natural beauty, is a place of interest for visitors all around the world. From the beginning of my planning to visit Hokkaido, everyone told me that, besides natural beauty, different kinds of dishes of meat of Hokkaido are also famous. I was disappointed to hear that. Because, the famous natural beauty in Hokkaido can charm anyone as well as Muslim people. But how the famous meats of this place can be enjoyable by Muslim people like me? The Halal Yakiniku restaurant in Sapporo, “Halal Yakiniku Kou” is the answer.
Surprisingly I came to know from a radio program that, just few days before my visit to Sapporo, the new Halal yakiniku restaurant named “Halal Yakiniku Kou” has been opened in Sapporo. I did not want to miss the chance of enjoying a delicious yakiniku dinner in Sapporo.
However, on entering the restaurant, I received a warm welcome from the owner of the restaurant Mr. Takahashi Akihiro and all other staffs of the restaurant. I felt that the place is going to be a destination for peaceful meeting and friendly get together for more than 2000 Muslim people living in Sapporo.
The interior of the restaurant was similar as any other Japanese Yakiniku Restaurant. But they have the arrangement for saying prayer for Muslim people. Though they do not have any separate space for prayer room, they can arrange the prayer space if anyone wants to say prayer in a blank space within the restaurant. This reflects their dedication for entertaining Muslim people.
I had a long discussion with the chef of the restaurant Mr. Tsushima Tadahito. He was kind enough to share his time with me describing his experience about learning Halal foods and the rules in “Islam” regarding “Halal”. I also came to know that the meats they use in this restaurant are all from Australia and all are sacrificed in Islamic way. These beef are all grain fed beef and are thought to be good for health.
The foods were off course delicious. Different menu were available including deluxe short ribs, roast, sirloin, diaphragm etc. All were mouthwatering and I really enjoyed them with great peace of mind.
This restaurant is not only for Muslim people as I have seen a number of Japanese people taking their mel along with alcohol. More interesting is that they can serve alcohol free hard drinks besides different kinds of soft drinks.
I thank the people, who not being Muslim, have put their full gratitude and respect to the rules of Islam and create an opportunity for Muslim people to enjoy Japanese yakiniku. I think Muslim tourists from different corners of the world along with Muslim people living in this place should encourage and support this endeavor and pay their visit to such kind of places in order to create a better environment for Muslim in Japan.