TOKYO -- As Japan's Muslim population soars on the back of government efforts to bring in more foreign workers, a severe shortage of suitable cemeteries is preventing many from burying their dead in line with their customs.
An Indonesian who served as a senior member of Keluarga Masyarakat Islam Indonesia Jepang (KMII, the Indonesian Muslim Association in Japan) until 2024 said the Ibaraki prefecture city of Sakuragawa granted permission in 2023 to build a cemetery there. But the effort was abandoned over a lack of understanding from local residents.
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