Mitsuo
Nakamura
20 November, 2016
Tokyo, Japan
TAMU = “Talk with Muslims”
TAMU (= acronym for “Talk with Muslims”) Project launched
recently by the Japan Foundation is inviting 7 (seven) Muslim young men and
women from Southeast Asian countries to Japan to engage in dialogue with
Japanese young men and women. The project is aimed at countering the rise of
Islamophobia in Japan by promote the understanding on Islam among the Japanese
counterpart. They will present the moderate and peaceful nature of Islam as it
is believed and practiced in Southeast Asia. Several scholars of Islamic
studies of Japan, including Dr. Mitsuo Nakamura, Professor Emeritus of Chiba
University and Dr. Ken Miichi, Associate Professor of Iwate Prefectural University,
in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Azyumardi Azra CBE of UIN Jakarta, Dr. Ahmad Najib
Burhani of LIPI/Muhammadiyah and Mr. Ahmad Suaedy of Ombudsman RI/Wahid
Institute, from the Indonesian side, formulated the initial idea for the project
last year. Their initiative was well received by Dr. Tadashi Ogawa, then Director
of Jakarta Office of the Japan Foundation, and has become an officially
instituted program supported by the government funding for the current fiscal
year. The project is expected to last at least for five years until 2020.
“Seven Young Muslim Samurais” Visiting Japan
The first year’s “TAMU Project” invites
to Japan seven young Muslim activists from Southeast Asia. They include two
Indonesians (Ahmad Imam Mujadid Rais, Maarif Institute, and Rifqi Fairuz, Gusdrian
Network), one Malaysian (Nurul Hafizah Binti Mohamad Ramli, International
Islamic University), two Thais (Fadel Heeyama, Save the Children International,
and Fitra Jewoh, Thai-European Business Association), and one each from the
Philippines (Ruhollah al-Hussein J. Alonto, Institute of Bangsamoro Studies)
and Singapore (Goh Muhammad Redhuan, Majlis Ugama Islam Singapore). The number
of invitees is expected to increase in the coming years.
Program: Talks with Japanese Youth
During the ten days stay in Japan, 21-30 November, the TAMU
participants are first going to be briefed in Tokyo on Japanese society and
religion and Japan’s relationship with Islam and the Islamic World. Then, they
will visit Sophia University（Catholic college established by
Jesuits in 1913）to attend a meeting for exchange with Japanese scholars of
Islamic studies hosted by Prof. Midori Kawashima. They will also visit Chuo
University (one of the leading private universities in Tokyo since 1920) for
dialogue with students hosted by Prof. Hisanori Kato, as well as Toyo Eiwa
Jogakuin Senior High School (Protestant girls school established by Canadian Methodist
missionary in 1884) for school tour and exchange with students, hosted by Prof.
Tsuyoshi Kato. On Friday, 25 November, the TAMU participants will join the noon
prayers at Tokyo Camii Mosque (Turkish Culture Center) and have talks with fellow
Muslims living in Japan.
Visiting the Region hit by Great Earthquake &
Tsunami
The latter half of the program will be conducted in the
Iwate Prefecture hosted by Dr. Miichi. The participants will visit the town of
Otsuchi for viewing local cultural performance and its role for community
development. They will also observe the activities of “Collabo School”, run by
NPO KATARIA helping school children and students suffered from the disaster of
“Great Eastern Japan Earthquake” and Tsunami in 2011. After visiting historical
sights in Kamaishi City and Morioka City, they will have a meeting with
students at Iwate Prefectural University.
Back in Tokyo, the last day of
stay will be spent for a meeting with young journalists for discussion on the
reportage in Japan about the Islamic World. This will also wrap up the first TAMU
program.
Countering Islamophobia
My personal rationale for the TAMU project is as follows:
A series of recent atrocities committed by the so-called
ISIS and its affiliates upon Japanese citizens overseas have shocked the
Japanese public. Most of TV programs, press reports and journal articles, and
instant publications on the ISIS in Japan have started to disseminate a massive
amount of negative images and impressions on Islam, inducing the rising of
Islamophobia. At the same time, however, the violent incidents have stimulated
a great deal of genuine curiosity on Islam and Muslims, too. In other words,
ironically, the current situation presents a chance for the Japanese public to
learn about the reality of Islam without biases and prejudices. The curiosity
seems especially high among the Japanese youth.
Muslims’ Favorite Feelings towards Japan
On the Muslim side, especially those Muslims in ASEAN countries,
they have had favorable feelings towards Japan and Japanese people in general.
Among others, Muslim youths are quite enthusiastic about Japanese technology
and pop-culture like Anime, Manga and popular music. Many of those
Muslims who have ever visited in Japan for study, work or business admire
Japanese people’s positive characters like cleanliness, discipline, diligence,
honesty, kindness and orderliness. Some even say that Japan is an Islamic
society where Islamic values are prevailing without Islam! The rapid increase of tourists from Southeast
Asia to Japan thanks to the growth of the middle classes in the region are also
enhancing the opportunities for mutual understanding between the Japanese people
and the Muslims from Southeast Asia. To accommodate them, Japanese tourist
businesses are busily adjusting themselves now by providing halal foods and other services specific
for Muslims. (Ex. major international airports like Narita now have “prayer
rooms”.)
Disseminate “True Image and Reality” of Islam
Considering such a situation, there seems to arise an
opportunity for Southeast Asian Muslims to disseminate the true image and
reality of Islam to a wide audience in Japan in order to counter the rise of
Islamophobia. It is assumed that the Japanese public, especially the young
people, are willing to get acquainted with Muslim counterparts from ASEAN
countries at the personal level. According to my
understanding, this is the background against which the Japan
Foundation has launched the TAMU (=“Talk with Muslims”) project this fall in
cooperation with civil society organizations and academia in both ASEAN and
Japanese sides. (“Tamu” in Indonesian and Malaysian languages means “guest/s”.)
People to People Diplomacy
Such an approach pursued by civil
society organizations and academia, being different from and along side
security approach employed by the government, will be contributing in the long
run to the formation of a pre-condition – elimination of Islamophobia = freedom
from the fear of Islam – necessary for the formation of rational public opinion
and prudent diplomacy in countering violent extremism.
Japan’s Unique Position in Relation to Islamic World
Japan has been occupying a unique
position in its relationship vis-à-vis the Muslim World. It has NOT been
involved directly in the military operations of the Western Powers. Perhaps,
this is one of the most important elements in Japan’s diplomacy, making its
neutrality credible.
In spite of recent controversial legislature, latest polls
indicate that the majority of Japanese people want to maintain its pacifist
Constitution, i.e. the avoidance of military engagements overseas. It is my
personal wish that the TAMU project aimed at mitigating Islamophobia will also
be contributing to the continuation and confirmation of Japan’s pacifist
diplomacy.
From “Guests” to “Partners”
The TAMU project is expected to
continue for a number of years to accumulate a “critical mass” of the
participants from both Muslim and non-Muslim sides to nourish mutual
understandings and to work together in countering the growth of Islamophobia in
Japan. It is, therefore, hoped that the TAMU = “inviting guests” project will
be developing eventually into the creation of a number of “partners” instead of
mere “guests” in their efforts to counter Islamophobia. It is also hoped that
the project will be not merely inviting Muslim youths to Japan but also developing
to an exchange program, providing opportunities for the Japanese youth to visit
Muslim communities in Southeast to learn the reality of Muslim lives firsthand
via their own eyes.
My Personal Responsibility
I feel it my personal
responsibility as an academic who has been engaged in many years in the study
of Islamic social movements in Southeast Asia, like Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul
Ulama in Indonesia, to join the collective efforts of my Japanese colleagues to
counter Islamophobia via TAMU Project in Japan. I wish further understanding
and cooperation from my Southeast Asian, especially Indonesian, colleagues for
the TAMU Project run by the Japan Foundation.
(End)
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