An Egyptian legal scholar based in Ibaraki, Osaka Prefecture, says he is working to increase understanding between the Japanese people and the more than 100,000 Muslims who live among them.

Islam has gradually put down roots in Japan. There are now around 60 mosques, many of them established in former private homes.

Mohsen Bayoumy, 55, the imam of one such mosque and a central figure in the Japan Halal Association, says awareness of the faith is on the rise.