As the influx of foreign visitors to Japan includes Muslims, there has been discussion about how Japan can best accommodate their religious dietary restrictions and other needs.
According to data released by the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of visitors from Indonesia, the country with the world's largest Muslim population, exceeded 270,000 in 2016, up 32.1 percent from the previous year.
Nasser Mohammed Alomaim, director of the Arabic Islamic Institute in Tokyo where some 300 students study the Arabic language, says that interest in Islamic culture, including foods and dietary rules, has recently grown among the general public.