Japan entices Muslims to the country, bucking global trend

Three countries have appeared distinctly unwelcoming to Muslims this week.

In America, President-elect Donald Trump - who already pledged to ban Muslims from the country in his election manifesto - could possibly introduce a registry to keep track of Muslims in the country.

The UK's Muslim prison population has doubled in ten years, raising fears its Prevent strategy aimed at identifying youths vulnerable to radicalisation is behind the incarceration of a disproportionate number of Muslims.

And in Israel, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu backed a controversial bill to quieten the Muslim call to prayer.

But, refreshingly, the ever-unconventional Japan is bucking the worrying trend - by launching a tourism campaign to entice more Muslims to the country.

This week, three municipalities in Okayama Prefecture, in the southern part of Japan's Honshu island, have launched a project to promote "Muslim-friendly tourism" in the region.

Hoping to attract hundreds of Muslims to the area, mainly from Malaysia, Okayama's tourism board is promoting the city's mosque, the many hotels with prayer rooms and the first all-Halal bakery in Japan in the neighbouring town of Kibichuo.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the "Okayama-Style Health Tourism Project" was signed in Kuala Lumpur between Japanese officials and the Corporate Information Travel Sdn Bhd. travel agency.

Under the MOU, the KL-based agency will help the municipalities promote tourism to Muslims and non-Muslims in Malaysia.

It is expected to help attract 240 to 480 Muslim visitors to Okayama Prefecture next year, Okayama Mayor Masao Omori said after sealing the deal.

"With this project, we will make Okayama a more Muslim-friendly destination for travel, lifestyle and work," he added.