Halal foods and prayer rooms available, Muslim-friendly Haneda Airport (HND)

The pandemic is finally over, and along with it, the border restrictions implemented to prevent the spread of diseases. The Japanese government has removed border measures for the pandemic, allowing all entrants to stay in Japan without vaccination certificates or negative test certificates. Now Japan is getting ready for more tourists to come. There are new attractive buildings, multilingual street signs, English menus in cafes and even Muslim-friendly facilities that were not there in the past. Here are halal facilities at Haneda airport you should keep in mind. I hope you will feel included and stress-free when visiting Japan.

HND now has more halal-certified services

Haneda Airport aka Tokyo International Airport is one of the two largest international airports in Japan (the other one is Narita Airport), operating 500 domestic flights and 140 international flights a day. As it is an “international airport,” there are halal-certified meals and snacks as well as various choices for vegetarians. Moreover, the airport also has prayer rooms.

Details about prayer rooms at HND Airport

Prayer rooms were installed as part of the expansion work at the airport, which took place in 2014, a year after Tokyo was selected as the host city for the 2020 Olympics. Haneda Airport has three terminals, and two of them have prayer rooms: Terminal 2 and 3 (Terminal 1 doesn’t have the room because it operates only domestic flights).

Locations of prayers rooms
-Terminal 2: General area (2 rooms) and after passport control (2 rooms)
-Terminal 3: General area (2 rooms)

Unfortunately, a prayer room at Terminal 2 was under construction at the time I visited there so I couldn’t take a glance. The only prayer rooms I was able to visit at Terminal 3 are located in the international departure area, specifically near the check-in counter L. Though it’s introduced as a halal facility, it’s open 24/7 to anyone with any faith. When using the rooms, users need to call the staff through the intercom.

Each room (two are not specified by gender though) has an area to do ablution, and the Qibla is marked on the ceiling so users will always know the right direction. Also, users can make a private area with movable partitions for their convenience. Though the floors are carpeted, I recommend users bring their own prayer mats and accessories since there are none. It goes without saying that eating, drinking, smoking and other inappropriate behaviors for prayer are prohibited in the rooms.

The Muslim population is growing in Japan

According to the article, there are approximately 230,000 Muslims in Japan, which is less than 1% of the population, while the Muslim population is growing worldwide. Although Japan has been a country that seems to be farthest from the Muslim culture, now we have 113 mosques across Japan as well as prayer rooms at the international airport. I hope this article will help remove barriers that prevent you from visiting Japan.