Tokyo, the most hitech-city on the face of the earth, features quite a few restaurants which claim to be serving ‘Halal dishes. And, some of them, actually, do serve these dishes to their Muslim customers as well as to the non-Muslim guests. However, unfortunately, most of them still offer alcohol and other pollutants to their customers apart from serving Halal meat or beef.
Most of these so-called ‘Halal restaurants’ are owned by Muslims. Some of them even serve non-Halal dishes as well which are being prepared in the same kitchens using the same knives, same cooking utensils as the Halal ones. Even a bigger problem is that, some of these restaurants offer almost naked dance parties to attract even larger number of customers. But, as I said earlier, they serve ‘Halal dishes’. This largely sorry state of the affairs begs us a question for which I have yet to find an answer. Are these kinds of restaurants polluting the halal industry exactly at the time it is getting ready to make a mark in the global food industry.
Some of the so-called Halal restaurants even cheat Muslims by keeping few packages of Halal meat to show the Halal labelling and to prove their ‘Halalness’ to those customer who insist on showing any proof of Halalness of their meat etc. In fact, most of their dishes are not halal at all. These restaurants are mostly being run by non-Muslims from Malaysia, India, Nepal.
There are still another type of restaurants which, no doubt, offer halal meat etc. to their customers. However, the seasoning they use or the saucages they use to make their food more delicious is made with animal fats. They buy these seasonings from regular shops which do not have connection with the concept of halal.
The most important reasons being cited by these Muslims to pollute the halal dishes with the non-Halal ones and alcoholic beverages, are the economic ones. They state that if they do not serve alcohol in their restaurants, they can not survive as a business. Although, I may not be able to opine about the Halalness of the Halal restaurants in other non-Muslims countries. But,unfortunately, I know only a few restaurants in Japan which truly serve ‘Halal only dishes to their customers and nothing else whatsoever it may be.
In fact, eating Halal can be a challenge even in a mega city like Tokyo if you do not know the right place to go for halal. Please open up yourself and give your opinion about the halalness of these types of restaurants. Will you be able to visit these restaurants with your family and/or your Muslim friends who do want to eat halal only? What has been your experience regarding the availability of Halal food in Tokyo or in any other big city around the world.
Your مسلم brother says
I wouldn’t eat at a restaurant that mixes halal with haram.
But what about creating a certifying body for halal butchers and restaurants like here in the uk. We have one called the halal monitoring committee which is extremely strict.
http://www.halalhmc.org
Ps: I don’t work for them.
Azahara says
i agree, having a certifying organization/body is a big help. Through such body those business-related could be monitor systematically, and specifics label and certificate are able to be release, which is more uniform. Perhaps throu such body, someday there will be a law about halal food and the strict fine to those who dis-honest in halal-related business.
About sharing the same kitchen and storage, it is totally not acceptable, which is due to high risk of cross-contaminating between halal and non-halal food. I am not sure bout how is the condition there in Japan, but in some country which try to serve or produce halal food accordingly, there will be NGO to overview the industry and collaboration from Halal-hub country, such as Malaysia. For example, Malaysia had been help and overview those body in Turkey in order to make sure those Halal criteria are listed and compiled.
About the restaurant, it might be difficult to trace every one of them where there is no strict order by Japan’s government. However, tips and facts on how to ensure the halal condition are meet could be spread out.
I am quite surprise by your info as we here are told that there are plenty of halal restaurant or food source now days in Japan. I hope you or islamic community in Japan can do mini-project on identifying those real halal restaurant. ^__^ Anyway, thank you for your info and your site.
Nazrul Ikhmal says
Salam brother,
I need opinions about Sushi, in Malaysia..most of Japanese restaurant serve Halal meat but still include wine or alcohol stuff in their cooking to complete the dishes, can we eat that? I’ve been bothered by this stuff for quite some time since i do love sushi.Plus, is Shoyu haram?
Wassalam
admin says
Walaikum Assalam,
There is Halal Shoyu and of course the Haram one as well. However, in our opinion, for the time being, most of the shoyu being served currently maybe haram. According to our our understanding, there is just one company so far which has got Halal certification for their shoyu. However, they have not yet started marketing it and supplying it commercially.
Please confirm it with the local Sushi shop as to how they make Sushi.
Azahara says
salam,
Bout sushi in Malaysia, it is the best to refer their halal logo each time u want to enter those restaurant. It is advisable to check it even thou for same branch in different region because some may get their logo but some may not yet have their logo.
For sushi restaurant in Malaysia, the white meat or fish is halal, but the main concern is the dipping. one of my friend have a project to determine the halal level of sushi shop and she found out there is an alcohol in their dipping, including the soy sauce dipping. those shop is not yet receiving the JAKIM halal logo but claim they are halal and post the big ‘simple halal’ logo infront of their shop.
* tip, check halal restaurant in JAKIM website, and it is updated for every 6 months if im not mistake ^_^