Key Points
A recent viral video has been circulating, showing a Japanese politician delivering an intense speech, allegedly banning the construction of Muslim cemeteries.
The politician is Mizuho Umemura of the ulltraconservative Sanseitō party, which has a hard anti-immigrant stance.
The clip has been circulated out of context from a Q&A session with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
A recent viral video has been circulating, showing a member of the Japanese parliament reading out a speech on graveyard allocation in the country. The video is accompanied by titles like “Japan DENIES construction of Muslim cemeteries!” and an alleged translation, saying, “The Muslim request for cemeteries is denied. In Japan, cremation is the tradition. The appropriate approach for Muslims is to return the remains to their own countries and bury them there!”
The video in question shows a Japanese politician, Mizuho Umemura, engaging in a Q&A session with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. She addressed a recent demand by Muslims living in Japan, pushed by organisations like the Japan Muslim Association, for the establishment of a cemetery in each prefecture.
In her speech, she raised points on the health impact of burials, saying that Japan has high humidity and frequent natural disasters, making buried bodies prone to being unearthed and causing hazards.
She said that Japan has limited space and the culture in Japan is cremation not burial, highlighting that the country has a cremation rate of over 99%. She said that Muslims emigrating to Japan, mostly for jobs, embodied a very different culture to the Japanese. She said that anyone wanting to live in Japan should adhere the cultural norms or else not come at all. She acknowledged that burial is disallowed in Islam but concluded by saying that those who die should be shipped back to their country of origin to be buried.
Umemura added that burial was against the values of the Emperor and Empress of Japan, and that their wishes should never be crossed. She stated that a political line must be drawn for local governments to reference, pointing to ‘problems’ in Western countries with Muslim immigrants as an example.
Replying to Councillor Umemura, Minister Ueno said, firstly, that no public health problems are recorded to have arisen in the country from burials. He said that each municipality has their own regulations for public health.
Secondly, he said, each municipality should deliberate on the matter of cemeteries, taking into consideration the local customs, the religious temperament, the surrounding environment and proposed sites, and the residents’ feelings.
Third, Ueno said that the government is not considering a blanket ban on cemeteries and that local governments can implement the necessary regulations.
Finally, the Minister said that he was aware of the Emperor and Empress’s feelings on the matter and that any steps taken will take them into account.
Japan is a historically conservative society which has seen long spells of isolation, crackdowns on foreign religious influences, and a pedestalisation of Japanese culture. But, with a declining and aging population, in recent years it has had to turn towards immigration to meet its labour demands. As such, it has seen a large influx of immigrants from people around the world – 1 million between 2022 and 2025 – with a significant chunk coming from Arab and South Asian countries.
Muslims residing in the country have risen from 110,000 in 2010 to 350,000 in in 2023. Most of these are youth who intend to settle in the country (though, Japan has a stringent citizenship system). The number of mosques has increased from four in 1980 to 149 in 2024. But there are only ten major burial sites in the country.
At the same time, Japan has also seen a rise in conservative and anti-immigrant sentiments. Councillor Umemura’s party, Sanseitō, is evidence.
Sanseitō was formed in 2020 from a YouTube channel. It is an ultraconservative, right-wing party with anti-immigration, anti-vaccine and anti-LGBTQ stances. It also frequently supports conspiracy theories and proposes a new constitution for Japan with minimum human rights protections.
Despite its young age and winning only one seat in Japan’s 2022 House of Councillors election, it has quickly picked up pace. The fact that it won 14 seats in 2025 House of Councillors election only highlights Japan’s growing anti-immigrant sentiment.
Japan has not banned the construction of Musim cemeteries. The viral clip only shows one Councilor – Umemura of Sanseitō – expressing her opinion on the matter. The out of context clip also fails to show the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare dismissing her position. [Rh]
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