For the thousands of Muslim athletes, officials and supporters arriving in Tokyo for the Olympic Games later this year, it might be a struggle for them to find an appropriate place to pray.
The answer might just be found roaming the streets of Tokyo on the back of a truck.
By the time the Games start in July, there are to be prayer rooms available at the Athlete’s Village, which is still under construction.
Photo: Reuters
However, some venues might not have a designated space.
There is also a dearth of prayer spaces in hotels and public areas across the Japanese capital.
This is where the Mobile Mosque, a fully-equipped 48m2 prayer room that opens up in the back of a parked truck, comes in.
The back of the modified truck can be widened in seconds and the vehicle also includes Arabic signage and outdoor water taps for pre-worship cleaning.
The Yasu Project, the organization behind the enterprise, plans on setting up the vehicle outside venues during the Olympics, which run from July 24 to Aug. 9.
CEO Yasuharu Inoue hopes that athletes and supporters alike will use the truck.
“I want athletes to compete with their utmost motivation and for the audience to cheer on with their utmost motivation as well. That is why I made this,” Inoue said on Wednesday, pointing to the white truck parked next to Tokyo Tower.
“I hope it brings awareness that there are many different people in this world and to promote a nondiscriminatory, peaceful Olympics and Paralympics,” he added.
Tokyo organizers said that they were looking at various avenues to provide appropriate facilities for all religious groups.
“The organizing committee is preparing a list of religious or faiths centers that could be contacted or visited if requested by residents of the villages during the Games,” a spokesperson told reporters by e-mail.
“In the Games’ venues, multi-faith prayer spaces for athletes and spectators are under consideration in venue operations planning,” they added.
An investigation by Waseda University found that there were 105 mosques in Japan at the end of 2018.
However, as they are spread across the country, and many of them are small and on the outskirts of Tokyo, it might be difficult for Muslims, who need to pray five times each day.
Inoue said that he has already spoken to several Olympic committees, including most recently Indonesia, about helping their athletes.
Topan Rizki Utraden, an Indonesian who has lived in Japan for 12 years, prayed at the Mobile Mosque for the first time with his daughter.
It can be difficult to find a quiet place to pray in Japan, particularly outside of Tokyo, he said.
“It is really difficult to find mosques near your place,” Utraden said. “If you are in the city, there is no problem, but if you take a road trip outside Tokyo, it is difficult.”
“Sometimes I pray in a park, but sometimes the Japanese look at me like: ‘What are you doing?’” he added.
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