In Japan, department stores and shopping malls are increasingly setting up prayer rooms to meet the needs of Muslims as the number of visitors from Islamic countries increases due to the weak yen.

At the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo’s upscale shopping district, numerous people lined up in front of a room designated as a “prayer room” at certain times of the day.

The room is equipped with a foot washing area so that parts of the body can be cleaned before the service, and there are also mats on which several people can pray.

A Malaysian woman in her 30s said she searched online for a prayer room before arriving in Japan and was grateful for it, as it is difficult to find one in the middle of the metropolitan area.

A visitor from Malaysia poses for a photo in front of the prayer room of the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo on July 5, 2024. (Kyodo)

Muslims usually pray five times a day, but some reduce the frequency to three times while traveling, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. Their activities would be limited if they could not find a prayer room and had to return to their accommodation.

“Prayer rooms are necessary infrastructure, similar to bathrooms and nursing rooms,” said a retail industry representative, adding that people in the industry need to work together to set up such spaces.

Along with other department stores in Tokyo, Shibuya Parco in the Shibuya shopping district has also opened a prayer room.

Aeon Mall Co., an operator of large shopping malls, has set up prayer rooms in seven stores in Chiba, Kanagawa, Aichi, Hiroshima and Okinawa prefectures and plans to expand the service to other stores.

According to the Japan Tourism Organization, the number of visitors to Japan from Indonesia, Malaysia and Turkey exceeded 870,000 in 2023, 2.7 times more than the previous year.