r/movingtojapan • u/Master_Dream • 1d ago
General 16M Muslim from Morocco/Italy dreaming of moving to Japan: advice on daily life (halal food, prayer, community) and the reality of buying an akiya?
Hi everyone,
I hope this post is okay. I'm a 16-year-old Muslim guy, originally from Morocco but I've lived in Italy my whole life. I have a genuine dream of one day traveling to Japan, maybe for a long stay, or even moving there in the future. I'm trying to learn as much as I can to see if this dream could be a reality.
I've already done a lot of independent research online (watched countless videos and read blogs about expat life in Japan), but most of the information feels either unrealistically positive or aggressively negative. I'd really love to hear from people with real, daily experience.
From what I've seen online, Japan looks like an amazing country. My questions are about the real-life experience for Muslims there. The internet is full of two extreme stories: either it's a paradise or a place of constant struggle. I'd love to hear from real people what a normal week is like.
Finding Food: How hard is it really to find halal food outside of big tourist areas like Tokyo or Osaka? Are there local spots, or do you rely on cooking at home and ordering online?
Praying and Community: How do you find a place to pray, especially when you're not near a mosque? What are the local Muslim communities like? Are they welcoming to foreigners?
The People: I've read that most people are very respectful and polite. Is this your daily experience, especially if you wear visibly Muslim clothing? Do you ever feel out of place or treated differently?
おまけ (Bonus Question): This might sound like a wild dream, but a friend of mine and I are fascinated by the idea of buying and renovating an Akiya (the abandoned houses in the countryside). We know it's a huge project and we're not planning to do it tomorrow. From my research, I understand that buying property does not grant a visa, so we'd need a separate status of residence for that. But setting that aside, I'm curious: is renovating an akiya a realistic dream for a foreigner? Would a small, rural community accept a couple of young guys who want to fix up an old house and live there quietly?
Thank you so much for reading this long post. I'm just trying to get honest, unfiltered perspectives to see if my dream could one day become a plan.
よろしくお願いします (Best regards).
8
u/intern4tional Permanent Resident 1d ago
To group all your questions together as they all have some component of the following:
This depends on where you live. Some areas it will be easier, some not so much. Kobe and Nagoya both have vibrant Islamic communities. Kobe's mosque is among the oldest in Japan. If you move decently remote (since you mention akiya), this will depend on your neighbors. Generally, the more remote you are, the more integrated into society you need to be.
Accommodations that exist in the bigger cities do not exist in smaller or more remote places due to simply fewer people, less tax investments, and other challenges of higher priority.
A few things:
- most supermarkets do not stock halal food, ethnic shops are the exception to this. Japan has a halal association.
- a decent list of mosques / prayer spaces for travelers can be found here.
- I recommend visiting here first and stopping here when you arrive. The Japan Islamic Trust has quite a bit of extra information about life in Japan for Muslims.
Most importantly, learn Japanese. It will be required for you when you have to ask about dietary restrictions at a minimum.
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u/Master_Dream 1d ago
yes probably in the next few years we will see what to do thanks anyway for the comment
3
u/shellinjapan Resident (Work) 1d ago
The status of residence is what would get in the way of your akiya dream. Most akiya are in the middle of nowhere; there’s a reason they’ve been abandoned. They won’t be near education providers (student status of residence) or where jobs are (work status of residence).
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u/Master_Dream 1d ago
u can find some in City's right? btw thanks for your comment
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u/shellinjapan Resident (Work) 1d ago
If the property was worth buying and renovating, the price would not be at the akiya level. The vast majority of akiya were abandoned because they were costing too much in upkeep or the owner could not sell it for profit due to the area not being desirable. You’re not going to find a magical cheap house with reasonable renovation costs in a desirable city.
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u/Master_Dream 1d ago
well it depends on several factors honestly and you are completely right in everything you said
2
u/Benevir Permanent Resident 1d ago
Finding Food: How hard is it really to find halal food outside of big tourist areas like Tokyo or Osaka? Are there local spots, or do you rely on cooking at home and ordering online?
Most people in Japan have no idea what that means. Even if you explain to them something like 'no pork' they'll just tell you to eat around the pork or pull the pork out... or that pork broth isn't meat so its fine. So you'll be cooking for yourself a lot and you'll want to learn how to read the labels.
What are the local Muslim communities like? Are they welcoming to foreigners?
Given that they're composed almost entirely *OF* foreigners, I'm sure they'd be welcoming of more.
a friend of mine and I are fascinated by the idea of buying and renovating an Akiya
The thing to remember is that abandoned properties are typically abandoned for very good reasons. Especially in the countryside there is very little possibility of there being anything within reasonable distance that you could be doing to satisfy the requirements of a status of residence. That's not even getting into the nitty gritty of hazardous materials that used to be common (eg. asbestos) which you'd need to hire specialists to deal with.
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16M Muslim from Morocco/Italy dreaming of moving to Japan: advice on daily life (halal food, prayer, community) and the reality of buying an akiya?
Hi everyone,
I hope this post is okay. I'm a 16-year-old Muslim guy, originally from Morocco but I've lived in Italy my whole life. I have a genuine dream of one day traveling to Japan, maybe for a long stay, or even moving there in the future. I'm trying to learn as much as I can to see if this dream could be a reality.
I've already done a lot of independent research online (watched countless videos and read blogs about expat life in Japan), but most of the information feels either unrealistically positive or aggressively negative. I'd really love to hear from people with real, daily experience.
From what I've seen online, Japan looks like an amazing country. My questions are about the real-life experience for Muslims there. The internet is full of two extreme stories: either it's a paradise or a place of constant struggle. I'd love to hear from real people what a normal week is like.
Finding Food: How hard is it really to find halal food outside of big tourist areas like Tokyo or Osaka? Are there local spots, or do you rely on cooking at home and ordering online?
Praying and Community: How do you find a place to pray, especially when you're not near a mosque? What are the local Muslim communities like? Are they welcoming to foreigners?
The People: I've read that most people are very respectful and polite. Is this your daily experience, especially if you wear visibly Muslim clothing? Do you ever feel out of place or treated differently?
おまけ (Bonus Question): This might sound like a wild dream, but a friend of mine and I are fascinated by the idea of buying and renovating an Akiya (the abandoned houses in the countryside). We know it's a huge project and we're not planning to do it tomorrow. From my research, I understand that buying property does not grant a visa, so we'd need a separate status of residence for that. But setting that aside, I'm curious: is renovating an akiya a realistic dream for a foreigner? Would a small, rural community accept a couple of young guys who want to fix up an old house and live there quietly?
Thank you so much for reading this long post. I'm just trying to get honest, unfiltered perspectives to see if my dream could one day become a plan.
よろしくお願いします (Best regards).
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1
u/FAlady Resident (Spouse) 5h ago
Do you and your friend have any home renovation skills?
If not, is your Japanese good enough to discuss the renovations you have in mind for your home with contractors?
I recently went through the process of buying my a house myself and there are a LOT of complex legal documents in Japanese. Will you be able to read them? What about registering at city hall? Like other commenters said, akiya are in rural areas where there is unlikely to be English support. If you and your friend are not able to handle these things you are going to be paying a premium for translation services every time.
This plan will require a lot of money, as well as college degrees for both you and your friend, and some sort of career prospects.
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u/AccomplishedBag1038 1d ago
Qualifying for a visa would be the first thing to look into. Japan isn’t somewhere where anyone can just decide to move to.