 Japan is a name that rings a bell in everything from electronics, cars, airplanes, drones and ships. This is a country that featured prominently in the Second World War as part of the axis of power with Germany and Italy, the country that has often made history, becoming the first nation in the world in the history of mankind to be nuked by the United States. Japan holds a very special place in Asia and the world economy. The people of Japan themselves are very industrious and enterprising. Without oil, they put one of the most advanced economies in the world with a powerful reserve currency to march. Recently there has been an upward growth of the Muslim population in the country and these trends are coming against the backdrop of the decline in birth rate in Japan and the need for more traditional orientation Islam, I guess, could help the country solve some of its very dangerous challenges of racism, the crazy birth rate and social cohesion. I was thrilled when I took a look at the recent statistics released by the Pew Research Center. It estimated that there were 185,000 Muslims in Japan in 2010. However, nine years later in 2019, it was estimated that the numbers rose to 230,000 with the Japanese converts accounted for over 50,000 of the estimated numbers. Pretty interesting is that Japan now has more than 110 marks compared to 24 in 2001. It's like all Muslims around the world here in Japan, we are so few. This is the opportunity. Asalaamu alaikum brothers and sisters, welcome to another episode of the Open-Minded Thinker Show. Please like and share this video to let YouTube show it to others, especially our brothers and sisters in Japan, where even though Islam is growing, it's still only accounts for less than 0.1% of Japan's population. Don't forget to join us as well by subscribing to the channel to help us grow better. It's becoming interesting by the day that Japan and its East nation is becoming increasingly religious with the exponential growth of Islam among the young population. In fact, this is the best time to do Dawa in the country. My name is Salman. I'm from Japan. I was born in Seki City, Giku Prefecture, Japan. And I was in Islam 25 years ago in Japan. It is said that my family came from a samurai clan originally. And your town is known for making what? It's a samurai sword. For the 750 years, they are producing samurai sword. So brother Salman, what are you doing in Kata? Well, I do Dawa, especially for the Japanese non-Muslims. And the Japanese understand Japanese more than any language, right? More than any language, right? How many Japanese people have you spoken to and how were the conversations? Alhamdulillah, 218 Japanese non-Muslims, yeah, and established quality communication, conversations in Katara, Masjid, in Doha. And how was their response? What kind of things did they say? Well, our response was basically they are very first time to know Islam. It's really first time to visit Masjid for the first time in their life. So I introduced very basics of Islam, especially how to eat, especially the existence of God and the oneness of God. And they are really surprised to know that the logic behind how muslims logically believe these things. And they actually agree, they understand these points. One could say nothing but remain optimistic about the growth of the faith in Japan. But before we hop into the next scene, let me intimate you about what really is causing the inhibition of the growth of the country. I will be offering two reasons. Now let's make it three. One now and then the remaining two after another video. I will love you guys to watch. Our lack of missionary activities. The muslim community in Japan has been criticised for not engaging in effective missionary activities to promote the religion among the Japanese population. This has resulted in limited outreach to the local population, which can make it difficult for people to learn about Islam and consider converting. Nevertheless, YouTube has changed all that. But you need to share videos like this. Now we are at Mecca. It's a famous mosque. I'm going to go there. It's amazing. We are finally here. The biggest mosque in Mecca. It's been a long time since we've been here. We are going to stay here for 7 weeks. We are going to stay there for 7 weeks. We can go there. It's been a long time since we've been here. 7 weeks. There are a lot of people here. It's been a long time since we've been here. It's been 20-30 minutes since we've been here. We are going to go to the center of the mosque. This is Mecca. There are a lot of people here. There are a lot of people. It's like a passion for everyone. I'm sure that in Japan, we can't taste it. There is absolutely no such thing. Everyone believes in God. We pray for God. At that moment, we all prayed. We prayed for God. We feel that there are a lot of people here. It's a moment when everyone is one. We pray for 17 million people. We are all here. We believe in God so seriously. It's a great experience for people who are saved. I can feel that. It's a great experience. There are a lot of people here. There are a lot of people here. There is a lot of people here. There is a lot of people here. There are a lot of people here. We are all here. It's amazing. We will be back in three weeks. Let's do our best. This is amazing. It's amazing. We have to run to the green zone. Oh, my God. We are on the way. After we got on the road, I was surprised. I was surprised. Finally, we are in the 7th place. I'm so happy. I'm so happy. Finish. Finish. We are here. It was a great experience. It was a long journey. It took about 3-4 hours to walk. It took about 3-4 hours to walk. I didn't expect to walk like this. It was better than I expected. It was better than I expected. Just as the guys have measured, negative stereotypes about Islam are an inhibiting factor. This leads to the remaining two reasons I promise to let you know. There are predictably dominance of traditional religion. Japan has a long history of traditional religions, especially Shintoism and Buddhism, which are deeply rooted in the country's culture and society. This can make it challenging for Muslims to gain a foothold and compete for attention and influence among the population. Negative stereotypes and perception there are, I mean, negative stereotypes and perception of Islam and Muslims in general in the country, Japan, which can create a barrier for people who might otherwise be interested in the religion. This can include fear of terrorism or a lack of understanding of Islamic beliefs and practices. This opens up an opportunity for us to girt your line and propagate Islam through social media in Japan and inshallah we'll be able to see more of this person in the next video. This is the first step I've learned. After the first test, I would like to ask you about your background and what you've been doing. First of all, I think everyone will think you're watching this, but what are you going to do? This is a question that I can answer, but I've never been to Japan before I was born and raised in Japan. I've never been abroad until I entered university. That's right. Of course, I didn't know the life of Islam. However, in 2015 when I was in university when I was in third grade, there was a chance to study in a country called Brunei. In Brunei, 70% of the country was Muslim. In 2015 in the Middle East Japanese journalists were killed in the Middle East. That's right. I didn't have a negative image in Japan. That's all I had. That's right. When I was in third grade, when Islam came to the media, I didn't have a negative image. For example, Islam or Islam I've never seen a negative news in Islam. It's all about negative news. That's right. When I went to Brunei, my image changed to 180 degrees. Until now, I've only seen the image of Muslims in the media. I had to live and spend time with them. In that way, what they believe or think or act can be understood. As I was learning that, it was a wonderful way to live. By the way, in 2017, I returned to Islam in 2017. That was my experience. Let's live it there, people. Until next time, Assalamu alaikum.