{"id":30235,"date":"2026-02-21T10:31:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T02:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30235"},"modified":"2026-02-21T10:31:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T02:31:35","slug":"as-muslim-tourism-grows-can-japan-adapt-to-travellers-prayer-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=30235","title":{"rendered":"As Muslim tourism grows, can Japan adapt to travellers\u2019 prayer needs?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.i-scmp.com\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/1280x720\/public\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/01\/25\/6fccdee3-db16-437c-a6a0-b0635b264be3_b37e0ab5.jpg?itok=d20WmZrN&amp;v=1769312954\" \/><\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">As <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Japan<\/span> welcomes a growing number of Muslim visitors, a quieter but increasingly visible question is unfolding across airports, shopping centres and sightseeing hubs: where can these travellers pray?<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The number of foreign visitors to Japan hit a record last year, including those from Muslim-majority regions, drawn by the country\u2019s food, pop culture and seasonal scenery.<\/p>\n<div datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1xdhyk6 ec74h0k0\">Between January and November last year alone, about 560,000 travellers came from <span data-qa=\"Component-Text\" class=\"css-0 ef9u0v00\">Indonesia<\/span>, 540,000 from Malaysia and 240,000 from the Middle East, according to the Japan National Tourism Organisation. For many, however, navigating daily prayer obligations in a country where dedicated facilities remain unevenly available detracts from an otherwise rich travel experience.<\/div>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The issue, it seems, is less about building grand mosques than about flexibility. The Japan Tourism Agency has issued a guide for serving Muslim travellers, encouraging hotels, transport hubs and commercial facilities to designate quiet, clean spaces for prayer where possible.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In places where purpose-built rooms are not feasible, experts say that simple accommodation \u2013 temporary partitions, clear signage or staff awareness \u2013 can make a significant difference, helping Japan project an image of hospitality that extends beyond culture.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">At last year\u2019s World Exposition in Osaka, which saw many Muslim visitors and staff members, a prayer room was set up near the Forest of Tranquillity, in the centre of the venue to accommodate worshippers who are required to pray five times a day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/news\/asia\/east-asia\/article\/3341138\/muslim-tourism-grows-can-japan-adapt-travellers-prayer-needs?utm_source=rss_feed\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article At Source <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As Japan welcomes a growing number of Muslim visitors, a quieter but increasingly visible question is unfolding across airports, shopping centres and sightseeing hubs: where&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30236,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4840],"tags":[15836,1240,2251,11499,16135,5058,3073],"class_list":["post-30235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel-globetrotting","tag-adapt","tag-grows","tag-japan","tag-muslim","tag-prayer","tag-tourism","tag-travellers","wpcat-4840-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30236"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}