Learning more about Islamic customs is just good business for Tomohiro Sakuma.
"It would be ridiculous to miss out on a chance to do business" with Muslim countries because of a lack of familiarity with Islam, the 50-year-old head of the Halal Japan Business Association said.
Sakuma, who set up the association in 2012, said that while he believes Japan generally has a favorable image in Muslim countries, Japanese have a tendency to associate the term "Islam" with terrorism.