KOFU, Japan (The Japan News/ANN) – Residents in the area below the northern slope of Mt Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture, which receives many foreign tourists, are putting effort into creating an environment more welcoming to Muslims.
Behind this move lies a surge in the number of tourists from Indonesia and Malaysia, both predominantly Muslim countries.
According to the Yamanashi prefectural government, 47,990 Indonesians and 42,680 Malaysians stayed overnight in the prefecture in 2018, up 18 per cent and 55.5 per cent, respectively, from the previous year. The number of Indonesian and Malaysian visitors is expected to increase.
At the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park in Fujiyoshida in the prefecture, a prayer room opened on February 4. The about 16-square-metre room was built by renovating part of a first-aid room.
The room is equipped with a marker that indicates the direction of Makkah, and a place for ablution.
Visitors can use the room freely during the park’s opening hours.
“This room will help increase the satisfaction level of Muslim visitors,” an official of the amusement park said.
At the Fujiten Snow Resort in Narusawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, a prayer space opened last year.
