Is Japan the only country where permanent residency is not given to Muslims?

False National Political

On 21st June 2019, a Facebook user named ‘Ambuj Paliwal रोचक तथ्य ’shared a post on his wall.  The post was regarding a picture of a Japanese temple.

On the picture it has been mentioned that Japan is the only nation that does not give citizenship to Muslims. Muslims cannot even rent a house in Japan. 

The claim made in this post is blatant. Let’s do a reality check.

View original post here –‘Ambuj Paliwal रोचक तथ्य’| ARCHIVE POST

As per the claims made in the post, we conducted an online search using the words ‘Muslim population in Japan’. Wikipedia results briefed us that there around 1 Lakh Muslims reside in Japan.  

Apart from this, we also came across an article broadcasted by The Guardian daily. Published on 28th January 2011, this article had census data of the Muslim population all around the world.  According to this census, till 2010, the Muslim population in Japan was 1 lakh 85 thousand. 

Read full news here The Guardian | ARCHIVE NEWS

We searched for nationality law in Japan.  On the official government website of Japan, Ministry of Justice, we found the English translation of the Nationality Act of Japan. In this act, it’s nowhere mentioned that Muslim is not eligible for Japanese citizenship. It clearly states that a person who fulfills the domicile rules of Japan is eligible to attain the citizenship of Japan irrespective of his/her religion. 

Read full story here – Ministry of Justice | ARCHIVE LINK

Please click on this link to learn more about the Nationality Act of Japan

We found a page by ‘Hatena Blog’ in our search. As per an article written on 22 August 2014,   there is no official statistical data of Muslim population in Japan. However, Professor Tanada at Waseda University researched Muslim population in Japan. In his study he mentioned that till 2011 the Muslim population in Japan was 11, 189.  It proves that this number belongs to the Muslims who have attained the citizenship of Japan. 

Read full block here – ‘Hatena Blog’ | ARCHIVE BLOG

Through this search we came across a story featured by Al Jazeera on 3rd November 2014.  Some facts related to the Muslim population in Japan have been highlighted. It has been said that in 1970, there was just 20 Mosques in Japan and now, there are around 200 more Mosques.

Read the full post: Aljazeera | ARCHIVE NEWS

‘SNA Japan’ fact check  website brought forth a fact on 11th December 2015.

Read facts here – ‘SNA Japan’ | ARCHIVE ARTICLE

This amendment firmly states that the assertion made in the above mentioned that Muslims are not given citizenship in Japan are absolutely baseless. Further, another false claim that Muslims cannot rent a house in Japan holds no credibility. 

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Title:Is Japan the only country where permanent residency is not given to Muslims?

Fact Check By: Ruchika M 

Result: False