{"id":173194,"date":"2018-07-25T04:57:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-25T08:57:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=173194"},"modified":"2018-07-25T04:57:54","modified_gmt":"2018-07-25T08:57:54","slug":"tokyo-company-debuts-mobile-mosque-ahead-2020-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/07\/25\/tokyo-company-debuts-mobile-mosque-ahead-2020-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Tokyo company debuts Mobile Mosque ahead of 2020 Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As Japan prepares to host visitors from around the world for the 2020 Summer Olympics, a Tokyo sports and cultural events company has created a mosque on wheels that its head hopes will make Muslim visitors feel at home. (Photo by Ruth Hartnup\/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

TOKYO \u2014 A large white and blue truck pulls up outside a stadium in central Japan and slowly expands into a place of worship.<\/p>\n

Welcome to the Mobile Mosque.<\/p>\n

As Japan prepares to host visitors from around the world for the 2020 Summer Olympics, a Tokyo sports and cultural events company has created a mosque on wheels that its head hopes will make Muslim visitors feel at home.<\/p>\n

Yasuharu Inoue, the CEO of Yasu Project, said the possibility that there might not be enough mosques for Muslim visitors in 2020 is alarming for a country that considers itself part of the\u00a0international\u00a0community. His Mobile Mosques could travel to different Olympic venues as needed.<\/p>\n

“As an open and hospitable country, we want to share the idea of ‘omotenashi’ (Japanese hospitality) with Muslim people,” he said in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

The first Mobile Mosque was unveiled earlier this week outside Toyota Stadium, a J-League soccer venue in Toyota City, which is also the headquarters of the car company with the same name.<\/p>\n

The back of the modified 25-ton truck flipped up to reveal an entrance and then the side slid out, doubling the width of the truck. The 48-square-meter (515-square-foot) room can accommodate 50 people.<\/p>\n

Muslim guests prayed inside the mosque, which includes outdoor taps and a washing area for pre-worship cleansing.<\/p>\n

Indonesian students who were victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami also participated in the debut ceremony.<\/p>\n

“The Mobile Mosque is very important to Muslim people such as Japanese people or tourists, Muslim tourists who visit Japan,” said 14-year-old Nur Azizah. “I want to show my friends.”<\/p>\n

An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 Muslims live in Japan.<\/p>\n

Tatsuya Sakaguchi, a Japanese guest, expressed hope that the Mobile Mosque would help open people’s minds worldwide.<\/p>\n

“Looking in from the outside at the people in the mosque, they looked very happy,” said Sakaguchi, the representative director of an Osaka retail company.<\/p>\n

Inoue said the inspiration for the project came to him on a trip to Qatar four years ago.<\/p>\n

Initially, the project organizers plan to target\u00a0international\u00a0sporting events both in Japan and overseas. Inoue said he hopes the project will do more than fill a gap in religious infrastructure.<\/p>\n

“Going forward, I would be so happy if people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Africa, the Middle East and, for example, refugees who are coming from Syria are able to use the mosque as a tool to promote world peace,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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