Tokyo company introduces mobile mosque for Muslim fans ahead of 2020 Olympics

Tokyo-based company Yasu Project has unveiled a newly-designed ‘mosque on wheels’ which will be used at major sport events in Japan to ensure a comfortable stay for Muslim fans, providing them with a mobile place of worship.

A large white and blue 22-tonne truck which easily transforms into a mobile mosque was demonstrated earlier this week at Toyota Stadium in Toyota, western Japan.

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The mosque on wheels includes a 48-sq-meter room which can accommodate up to 50 people, and a washing area for pre-worship cleansing.

Yasu Project CEO Yasuharu Inoue, who developed the idea of the mobile mosque, said that his innovative project will help to allay fears that there won’t be enough places of worship for Muslim fans attending global sports events in Japan, including the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games.

"As an open and hospitable country, we want to share the idea of `omotenashi' [Japanese hospitality] with Muslim people,'' he said.

Inoue also noted that the idea of creating mobile mosques came to him during his trip to Qatar four years ago.

"Going forward, I would be so happy if people from Indonesia, Malaysia, Africa, the Middle East and, for example, refugees who are coming from Syria, are able to use the mosque as a tool to promote world peace," he said.

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Mobile mosques could travel to different Olympic venues, enabling Muslim visitors to easily find a place of worship at any time.