Being a Muslim Software Engineer in Japan

I moved from Indonesia to Japan in June 2025 because I got a job offer at Rakuten, one of the tech companies based in Tokyo.

In this article, I’d like to share a particular aspect of that move: what it’s like being Muslim software engineer in Japan.

• Being Muslim in my home country
• Living in Japan
• Working as a Muslim in Japan
• Finding Islamic values in Japanese culture
• Challenges as a Muslim in Japan

Being Muslim in my home country

In my home country of Indonesia, Muslims or people who adhere to Islam are the majority. Based on the latest statistics, at least 85% of the population, or 244 million people, are Muslim.

This means significant infrastructure is provided for the Muslim community. Indonesia has Islamic education all the way from kindergarten until the university level. At each level, Islamic subjects are taught intensively, with both theoretical and practical aspects.

We have hundreds of thousands of mosques and musholla (smaller versions of mosques) to accommodate prayer and Islamic-related activities. There are also plenty of options for halal foods, which are food and drinks that don’t contain pork or alcohol and are served in an Islamic way.

We too have a range of Islamic holy celebrations and even national holidays for them. For instance, during the holy Eid al-Fitr at the end of Ramadan, Indonesia has dedicated at least three days off for all its citizens, not only Muslims, to celebrate with their families at home. The unique thing about Eid al-Fitr in Indonesia is that people who work in different cities than their city of origin usually will go back home and get together with their parents, neighbors, and relatives. This phenomenon is widely known as “homecoming” or mudik.

In essence, as a Muslim, living in Indonesia is very convenient.

Living in Japan

Having moved to Japan, this is no longer the case.

As of 2025, the Muslim population in Japan is around 420,000, only 0.3% of the total population. This stark difference very much affects what my…