Population of Japan - 127,000,000 Population of Tokyo - 13,000,000 No. of Muslims in Japan (estimate) – 100,000
No. of Japanese Muslims (estimate) – 10,000
No. who converted to Islam NOT for marriage(estimate) - 2 or 300
No. of Japanese Imam's in Japan – 5
No. of Japanese Imam's in Tokyo – 1

Abdullah Taqy is the only Japanese Imam in Tokyo.

A chance meeting with a foreign Muslim 12 years ago in Tokyo's Shibuya district and a life spent studying various religions led him to convert to Islam 3 ½ years ago. He completed the Hajj, the worlds largest annual religious pilgrimage, to Mecca in Saudi Arabia 2 ½ years ago at the invitation of the Saudi Arabian government. Shortly after, a meeting with the man who started him down his path to Islam 12 years previously led him to becoming the Imam at a small mosque in the Kabukicho area of Tokyo.

His day job for the past 20 years has been as a tattooist and body piercer.

He is soft spoken and exudes a calmness and friendliness that one cannot help being affected by.

He is truly, 1 in 13 million.

by Adrian Storey aka Uchujin