On July 28th, the British BBC focused their attention on a Japanese city that is not particularly famous—Tochizawa. There were a series of conflicts related to the construction plan for a mosque in this city.
As of December 2025, the Fujieda City Council in Kanagawa Prefecture received over 40 petition signatures related to the construction of a mosque. A online petition website gathered 33,000 signatures, opposing the proposal to build a mosque in Miyahara District of the city. It is reported that the mosque will be built at the expense of the Islamic religious group.
In March and April of this year, protests in Fujizawa reached their peak, with clashes occurring between supporters and opponents at the scene.
Meanwhile, there was also a rumor circulating in Osaka—that a local mosque played loud Muslim prayer calls in the early morning, affecting the lives of local residents.
"It's rumored that Islam tolerates rape, especially a dangerous situation." When a Japanese reporter from "Tokyo News" visited residents of Fujisawa, a female resident in her forties spoke out about her ingrained prejudice. Furthermore, the residents expressed continued concerns: "I'm afraid of escalating conflicts and traffic congestion," "The safety of the area may deteriorate."
"The construction of Zhenxin Temple was too late. Everyone's living quality and happiness level will definitely decline." At the JR Tsuji Station in Fujisawa City, citizen Kikuzuka mentioned this with a straight face.
To address this issue, local residents formed a regional citizen council to promote public consultations on the planned mosque project in the area. The residents hope to sign a ‘community agreement’ with the Sri Lankan developer responsible for the project, thereby binding themselves through written agreements regarding issues such as mosque operations, traffic, and noise pollution.
Sri Lanka expatriate group leader Muhammd Siddique said in an interview, "As soon as we receive notification, we will convene a meeting with all the board members and legal advisors to discuss matters."
How much impact will the construction of a mosque actually have on Japanese people? Many bloggers who oppose the construction of mosques often use the nearby Ebara City Mosque as a typical example. They claim that Ebara City has problems such as loud noise and traffic congestion due to the local mosque, and say that Fujisawa City may follow in the footsteps of Ebara City.
According to reporters from "Tokyo News" who went to Ehime City to verify online rumors, the reality was completely different from what was spread online. A 68-year-old Japanese resident said, "There are occasionally a few days of some noise during the year, but generally there is no noise at all." This mosque has been built for over twenty years, and both the local government and the police in the area have confirmed that there have been no major disputes related to the construction of the mosque.
The journalist’s visit coincided with an Islamic festival. Many people went to worship, and the mosque staff managed the traffic on site, guiding those who came to worship to park their vehicles in an orderly manner, preventing random parking along the roads. Naezel, the 48-year-old religious leader of the mosque, also said, “Before each worship, we educate the believers about local Japanese rules such as waste sorting and traffic etiquette. We have always lived in harmony with our neighbors, and there have never been any conflicts.”
Fujisawa citizen Kenzoe Tomiko told the BBC that many residents are anxious about the growing Muslim community, and she is one of them. The intense debates over immigration issues in the United States and Europe have also increased her unease.
But in the end, she also shrugged and admitted to the reporter that she had never had any unpleasant experiences with her Muslim neighbors. “To be honest, maybe I’m just afraid of the unknown.”
However, unexpectedly, it was the Muslim community, which had been labeled by some Japanese people as potentially causing social troubles, that became the first victims.
In February this year, a mosque in Egbye City, Hokkaido, and a used car dealership owned by Pakistanis were both caught in fires. The shop owner believes that the reason behind these incidents may be related to their Muslim identity. Hatred towards the Muslim community has evolved from verbal complaints to attacks on personal safety. Xenophobia is turning into a real social safety hazard.
In a town northeast of Kwan, the head of a mosque who goes by the name Ali said that since last year, he has received 5 to 10 calls or emails with hostile content every day, filled with discriminatory statements such as "Go back to your own country" and "Japan doesn’t need mosques".
Ali said: “These harassments have almost been sudden and they’ve popped up just like a sudden eruption.”
In fact, most Japanese people do not have Muslims around them. So why do some people firmly believe that Muslims will have a significant impact on their lives?
Firstly, currently, the number of Muslims in Japan is rapidly increasing. According to a survey on the “Muslim population in Japan” conducted by Hidetada Hirofumi, an emeritus professor at Waseda University, the number of Muslims in Japan has increased by approximately 3.9 times compared to 20 years ago. As of the end of 2024, the estimated number of Muslims in Japan was around 420,000. The number of mosques also increased from about 50 in 2008 to at least 164 as of last July, an increase of more than threefold, and this trend is still ongoing.
For a long time, Japanese society has had a deeply ingrained notion of a single nation-state, making it difficult for many people to accept diverse foreign groups. It is assumed that these foreign groups need to fully adapt to Japanese customs. In the face of the growing Muslim population and the increase in religious buildings, some people feel that their own "territory" and cultural sphere are shrinking. Muslims seem to be occupying spaces that belong to others, leading to a growing sense of unease among them.
Some Muslims are also reflecting on the degree of integration they have achieved. Merchant Muhammad Moshidin lived in Osaka for 39 years. In 1987, in order to find better job opportunities during the economic bubble period, he moved from Sri Lanka to Osaka. He told the BBC that both sides bear some responsibility for creating this divide: "We focused solely on our work, and for a long time, we didn't spend enough effort to make people understand who we are. We also didn't try our best to integrate into society."
In a situation where the public lacks awareness of Muslim communities, it is easy for them to be swayed by one-sided rumors. Some Japanese social media bloggers have taken to spreading pseudo-"popular science" content. These individuals appear to be educating the Japanese public about misconceptions regarding Muslims, but in reality, they continue to fabricate false information about mosques and Muslims, spreading unrealistic negative rumors that deepen fears and prejudices, and exacerbate social conflicts. Such information is not only spread online but also among people, affecting a large number of ordinary citizens.
On the other hand, some Japanese Muslim communities attempt to maintain customs that do not conform to Japanese traditions, such as burial in soil. This has also caused dissatisfaction among the general public. Almost all Japanese people are cremated after death, and people worry that burials in soil could pollute water sources and occupy land. Although Japanese law does not prohibit burial in soil, both burial and cremation require local permission. Bodies must be buried in approved cemeteries, which makes it difficult for Muslim communities to obtain such approval.
In the controversy surrounding the Fujisawa City Mosque, rumors about the simultaneous construction of a Muslim cemetery also played a role in fueling the conflict. The construction party subsequently clarified that there was no plan to establish a cemetery.
Players involved in the conflict are not just ordinary citizens, bloggers, and Muslim groups; the Japanese political landscape is also involved. On April 12 of this year, a demonstration against the construction of a mosque was held near JR Fujizawa Station. In order to stop the mosque construction plan, Yutaka Kawai, the leader of the Yamato Party, came specifically from Saitama to lead the demonstration. Violent clashes occurred between the opposition and supporters at the scene.
During the election cycle, candidates from various parties will incorporate the control of "foreigners," including Muslims, into their platforms. They will turn issues related to building mosques into tools for gaining votes by exploiting public dissatisfaction towards foreign ethnic groups, thereby achieving higher support rates.
The policy targets not only the Muslim community. According to Tokyo News, during the Senate elections last summer, political parties that pledged to tighten foreign control saw their support rates rise significantly. Anti-foreignist rhetoric continued to spread during the election period.
In January 2026, Japanese Prime Minister Kei Shirakawa convened a meeting of ministers responsible for foreign-related policies. Under the pretext of "responding to the concerns in the nation's heart," she proposed a "comprehensive response plan," which included tightening residency requirements and raising the barriers to obtaining citizenship. The plan aimed to strengthen restrictions on foreigners in various aspects.
However, in order to fill the labor shortages caused by aging populations, Japan has had to actively accept a large number of foreign workers. Japan's development requires foreign labor to maintain social normal operations. But relying on immigrants to do low-paying, high-intensity work, while allowing radical politicians and social media platforms to create divisions, will only plunge local residents into panic. At the same time, it also prevents some Muslim groups that might otherwise try to integrate into Japanese society.
The reality of the harmonious coexistence of Ebara Mosque for over twenty years proves that conflicts are not inevitable. In fact, the main factor that truly exacerbates opposition is not the mosque itself or ordinary Japanese citizens, but rather the combined effect of vote politics and the click-buy economy, along with the hype created by politicians and right-wing bloggers, especially in situations where ethnic integration has already been difficult.
