The Ichikawa mayor’s decision to restrict the gathering sparks debate on multicultural coexistence in Japan amid discrimination concerns
The dispute began in May when a mosque in Ichikawa, Chiba prefecture, was denied permission to hold a group prayer in the public park, located in a residential neighbourhood, during a festival that had been held there for years with city approval.
The decision followed criticism on social media of scenes from a prayer session held in the park last autumn.
The city initially sought to cancel the festival altogether but later reached a compromise with organisers, allowing the event to proceed as a social gathering without the outdoor prayer component.
The festival, held on a weekday morning, drew people dressed in traditional attire who shared meals and posed for photographs.
Abdullah Miyazawa, a 56-year-old representative of the mosque originally from Pakistan, said the festival had been held twice a year for about three decades.