Conflict and coexistence among minorities within minority religions: a case study of Tablighi Jama’at in Japan

ABSTRACT Research on religion and minorities in Japan has tended to focus on the relationship between majority and minority religions or between religion and social minorities. This contribution turns to consider the relationship between minorities within ‘minority religions’ and their efforts to coexist. It takes the case of the global Islamic movement Tablighi Jama’at, which started to become powerfully active in Japan with the arrival of large numbers of Muslim migrant workers from various countries in the late 1980s. Since then, Tablighi Jama’at has undergone significant expansion and diversification in Japan. Drawing on both participant observation and interviews, this contribution discusses these developments and related processes of religious and social localisation, which have created tensions between core members, first-generation migrants who make up the majority of participants, and the growing number of second-generation members and Japanese converts who were until recently in a relatively inferior position. This contribution reveals that there can be multiple subgroups within minority groups. The intersection of these various elements can also define power relations and the majority/minority status of people within minority groups. However, the case of Tablighi Jama’at in Japan also shows that power relations between subgroups are potentially fluid.