Mobile Mosques to provide much-needed prayer space for Muslims at 2020 Olympics in Tokyo

A Mobile Mosque on the back of truck providing a portable solution for Muslims looking for a safe and clean place to pray, is parked at a parking lot in Tokyo
REUTERS
Richard Parry6 February 2020

Mobile Mosques will be used at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo to help against a severe lack of appropriate prayer space.

With thousands of Muslim athletes, officials and supporters arriving in the Japanese capital this summer, prayer space is said to be severely lacking in hotels and public arears, while some of the event venues themselves may not house a designated space.

This is where the mosques on wheels come into play.

The Yasu Project is behind the scheme where trucks fitted with a fully-equipped 48-square-metre prayer room will provide the necessary space.

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.

A Mobile Mosque on the back of truck providing a portable solution for Muslims looking for a safe and clean place to pray, is parked at a parking lot in Tokyo Photo: REUTERS
REUTERS

The organisation's CEO Yasuharu Inoue hopes 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," said Inoue, pointing to the white truck parked next to Tokyo Tower on Wednesday.

"I hope it brings awareness that there are many different people in this world and to promote a non-discriminatory, peaceful Olympics and Paralympics."

Tokyo 2020 said on Wednesday that they were looking at various avenues to provide appropriate facilities for all religious groups.

"The Organising Committee is preparing a list of religious or faiths centres that could be contacted or visited if requested by residents of the Villages during the Games," Tokyo 2020 told Reuters in an email.

"In the Games' venues, multi-faith prayer spaces for athletes and spectators are under consideration in venue operations planning."

According to an investigation by Waseda University, there were 105 mosques in Japan at the end of 2018. But with these spread across the country and many of them small and on the outskirts of Tokyo, it may be difficult for Muslims who need to pray five times a day.

Inoue said 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, came to the Mobile Mosque for the first time with his daughter.

Indonesian faithful Topan Rizki Utraden prays inside a Mobile Mosque on the back of truck Photo: REUTERS
REUTERS

He said it can be challenging to find a quiet place to pray in Japan, particularly outside Tokyo.

"It is really difficult to find mosques near your place," said Utraden.

"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?'"

Additional reporting by Reuters

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