1 in 13 million - The only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo

***See updated film about the Iman for VICE Japan - blog.uchujin.co.uk/2012/12/the-only-native-japanese-imam-in-tokyo-vice-japan-piece/ ***

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.

Photography,Audio,Editing - Uchujin/Adrian Storey

©Uchujin/Adrian Storey 2010. All Rights Reserved.
uchujin.co.uk

Some of the pictures from this photofilm and the photofilm itself are available for licencing through Redux Pictures (redux.wg.picturemaxx.com/series/1.881)