A muslim, sometimes spelled as moslem, is a person who follows the religion of Islam.
Muslim have some restrictions in food and drink they consume, as it should be “halal” food which is food that is allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines.
It can be pretty strict, but basically they cannot consume pork (and pork by product), alcohol, and animal (meat, if it is not halal meat as there is also halal meat which they can consume).
As they have those restrictions, visiting Japan can be worrying for them because Japan is not a muslim country, moreover there are not many muslim in Japan.
Tokyo has been one of the popular tourist destinations for people all over the world, and it is a must for people visiting Japan.
There are a lot of tourists from muslim-majority country such as Indonesia and Malaysia comes visiting Tokyo, so this article is for them!
Of course Muslim can always avoid eating pork, alcohol, and meat when they visit Japan.
However it can be difficult for them since a lot of meals may contain meat extract or alcohol, or meat by product in them.
For example, almost all ramens in Japan use pork in their broth.
And because usually tourists cannot speak the language, they cannot ask the restaurant staff about those things.
The safest options for muslim is to eat in halal restaurant.
The number of halal restaurant in Tokyo is increasing so it will not be that difficult to find one especially in touristy place like Asakusa, Tokyo.
Halal Japanese food in Tokyo
Ramen is one of the Japanese cuisines tourists want to try when they visit Japan.
Try halal ramen restaurant “IPPIN” or “NARITAYA” located in the heart of Asakusa (see below for exact location).
In Ippin, they serve ramen with the light taste of milky white soup made from Kumamoto chicken (amakusa daiou), one of the rarest chicken in Japan.
You can enjoy this halal ramen for about 650yen (and 750yen for hot and spicy flavor ramen).
They also serve other variants of foods including curry and chicken karaage (deep-fried chicken) which are popular foods for Japanese.
I personally recommended the karaage, it really is delicious!
NARITAYA
IPPIN
Halal Turkish food, Indian food and others.
Turkish food such as Kebab, and Indian food such as curry and naan are pretty popular in Japan so no wonder you can find a lot of them in Tokyo.
Turkish and Indian restaurants in Japan often offer halal foods since they have a large number of muslim in their country, so they are the second safest option to eat in Japan.
SARAY Kebab, as its name, sells Turkish specialty kebab and you can find two Saray Kebab stalls in Asakusa (see below for exact location).
It has other locations also in Tokyo such as Shibuya, Ginza, and Akasaka.
For kebab, my favorite is a small Turkish restaurant in Shibuya called “Kebab Café”, located just in front of H&M Shibuya.
Kebab in Kebab Café, Shibuya
If you want to eat halal pizza, or steak, go to SEKAI Café, recently opened halal café in Japan which aims to serve anyone including people who have diet limitation because of religion and allergies, or even vegetarian.
This restaurant is really cozy, and located in the heart of Asakusa just right beside Kaminarimon.
So why don’t you stop and enjoy their omotenashi (hospitality)?
If you stay in Asakusa during your visit to Tokyo, you can get Asakusa Map for muslim created by HMJ (Halal Media Japan, www.halalmedia.jp) available at Sekai Café, Ippin, Naritaya, Asakusa Bunka Kanko Center(浅草文化観光センター) or alternatively you can download and print it yourself from this link http://www.halalmedia.jp/archives/1671/hmj-created-asakusa-map-muslim/.
See you in Tokyo!
Information:
IPPIN: https://www.facebook.com/shitamachi.ippin
3-16-11, Nishiasakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo, Japan 111-0035
Opening Hours: 11.30 am to 10.00 pm(Open 7 days a week)
NARITAYA: https://www.facebook.com/NaritayaFellowsM, http://www.fellowscompany.jp/#!naritaya/c223f
2-7-13, Asakusa, Taito-ku, Tokyo
Opening Hours: 11.00 am to 10.00 pm (Saturday, Sunday 11.00 am to 22.00 pm) (Open 7 days a week)
SARAY Kebab: http://www.saray.jp/
2-14-18 Nishiasakusa, Taitou-ku, Tokyo / 2-19-12 Kaminarimon, Taitou-ku, Tokyo (Asakusa branches)
Opening Hours: 11.30 am to 2.30 pm, 5.00 pm to 11.30 pm, (Open 7 days a week)
KEBAB Café: http://kebabcafe.jimdo.com/
2 -25-10 Dogenzaka, Shibuya, Tokyo
Opening Hours: 11.30 am to 11.30 pm(Open 7 days a week)
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