Securing a place for death: social capital and Muslim migrants’ struggle for burial cemeteries in contemporary Japan

Muslim migrants are a fast-growing ethnic minority in Japan, where they are increasingly settling, ageing, and passing away. One critical issue arising from their settlement is the lack of access to burial grounds, given that 99.97 per cent of the nation is cremated. Unlike in many Western European countries, municipal cemeteries in Japan typically lack burial plots. However, individuals or organizations that secure permits from local governments are legally allowed to construct private burial cemeteries. This legal–institutional context compels Muslims to purchase land and establish their own cemeteries as a means of self-help. Outcomes vary, with some Muslim associations succeeding in acquiring a burial cemetery while others fail. By using the concepts of bonding and bridging social capital, this study examines the processes involved in the struggles to acquire burial cemeteries and explains these divergent outcomes. Associations that managed to develop social networks with native Japanese successfully gained access to burial cemeteries, highlighting how the uneven distribution of social capital shapes the realization of the constitutional right to religious practice. This study thus carries policy implications regarding the state’s role in accommodating the needs of religious minorities, especially as Japan gradually adjusts its migration policies to expand migrants’ legal rights and duration of stay.