Oita Prefecture Muslim Cemetery Faces Hate Speech: ‘Immigrants Will Take Over!’

A religious organization and local residents signed an agreement on the location of a cemetery for Muslims in Hiji, Oita Prefecture, but there’s been a series of objections and ‘hate speech’ about immigrants from the townsfolk that was notable enough to make the news.

More Muslims are living in Japan than ever, with roughly 230,000 as of the end of 2020, but due to there only being a few cemeteries in Japan and only seven cemeteries that accept burials of Muslims, it’s been an issue for the immigrants. The Kyushu region has none, but the efforts of the Beppu Muslim Association in Oita led to the agreement for plans to build a cemetery in the town of Hiji.

However, since the agreement was signed on May 9th, there’s been over 430 emails and phone calls from residents who oppose the plans to build the cemetery, which included plenty of slanderous messages, saying, “the number of immigrants will increase, and the town will be taken over.”

Masuo Yasutoshi, chairman of the prefectural bar association’s Human Rights Protection Committee, remarked that objecting based on people being foreign or followers of Islam could be considered ‘hate speech,’ which could be considered illegal.

Two petitions opposing the construction of the Muslim cemetery came from outside Oita Prefecture, but since they contained topics that may be considered religious discrimination or misinformation, congress decided not to look into the matter.

A news report on the ‘hate speech’ surrounding the Muslim cemetery in Oita:

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