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To Bury or Not to Bury: Muslim Migrants and the Politics of Funerary Rights in Contemporary Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Shinji Kojima
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Abstract

Muslim migrants in Japan suffer from the lack of access to burial grounds when 99.9% of the nation is cremated. Muslims are usually met with opposition from the local community where cemetery construction is planned. Using ethnographic data, the study shows how Muslim associations inadvertently fail to respect the codes of Japanese rurality when seeking a cemetery in a community to which they do not have membership, leading to a conflict. This paper closes with policy prescriptions for the central government in ensuring the cultural rights of immigrant minorities in Japan.

Keywords

migrationMuslimJapanmulticulturalismdeath
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 21 , Issue 11 , November 2023 , e2
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2023

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