Saki Takao, just 26 years old and about to embark on one of the great decisions of her life, carefully chose a pink kimono for the occasion. Her mother helped her dress.

“I may not have wanted to forget my identity as a Japanese,” Takao said, explaining her decision to select the traditional attire to recite the Shahada oath to formally convert to Islam.

The high school teacher became Muslim on Nov. 25 last year, her 26th birthday.

Sitting in her apartment surrounded by 15 family members and friends, she read out the Arabic text, “I bear witness that there is no deity but God, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God,” on her smartphone. In the blink of an eye, Takao had converted.

She had walked a rocky road to reach this point, and now new horizons stretched before her.

Japanese converts to Islam are growing every year, usually because of marriage but sometimes out of a yearning to simply practice the Islamic faith, according to experts.

‘SCARY’ ENCOUNTER

Born and raised in Japan, Takao attended Osaka Jogakuin University. In her junior year, she spent six months in Taiwan as part of a student exchange program.

She became friends with a man from Turkmenistan at a party for international students. Takao found him easy to talk to despite their cultural differences.

They conversed in English on many occasions, building such a close relationship that they went out together at times.

When Takao suggested they have a sukiyaki evening with mutual friends less than a month later, he said he could not eat the dish because alcohol is used in sukiyaki’s broth.

Only then did Takao realize her friend was Muslim as liquor consumption is prohibited under Islamic law.

Takao suddenly viewed him as “scary” because his Muslim faith reminded her of gruesome stories involving the extremist Islamic State.

Takao decided she should “run fast” and refused to see him. She never spoke to him again.

Takao started feeling mortified after her return to Japan.

She was studying international affairs and English at university. As Takao devoted her energies into studies on cross-cultural interactions, she regarded herself as tolerant of other cultures.

OVERCOMING NEGATIVE STEREOTYPES

Her sense of shame over her treatment of a close friend simply because he was Muslim started to gnaw at her.

Islam is one of the three prominent religions, and Muslims account for one quarter of the world’s population.

“What a waste it would be to throw away the chance of forming friendships with many people around the world after I worked so hard to learn English,” Takao recalled thinking.

Two years later, in summer 2019, she embarked on a “solo trip to meet Muslims” that took her to countries like Turkey and Indonesia, which boasts the world’s largest population of Muslims.

Takao encountered many kind people along the way, including a young man who shared his bread on a bus trip. Takao also met a woman who allowed her to stay at her home for several days.

These and other interactions gradually whittled down Takao’s resistance to Muslims. She ended up wanting to learn more about the people and their faith.

Takao returned to Japan and became friends with a Muslim student from another country at her university.

After she graduated, Takao began working as an English teacher at a senior high school in Osaka.

LEAP OF FAITH

Takao spoke of Islam in her class and learned that her students associated the religion with “terrorism.”

“The negative impression of a limited number of people appeared to overshadow everything else,” she said. “The students were like how I used to be.”

Takao started frequenting a mosque in her neighborhood to learn more about the religion. She went there almost every week and tried halal meals prepared according to Islamic strictures to eliminate alcohol and pork-derived ingredients.

Takao also celebrated the ninth month of the Muslim year known as Ramadan. Observing fasting from dawn to sunset, she found herself relaxed.

Another aspect of the faith with which she empathized concerned the way men and women are treated although “gender equality imposed from above” sat uncomfortably with Takao after she committed herself to a full-time teaching career.

Looking at her friendship, Takao felt she was treated equally irrespective of differences of physical strength and workloads simply because they began to work as teachers in the same year.

Physical differences between men and women are a given under Islamic standards, so she felt both genders are “respected equally.” This style of equality resonated with her.

Takao yearned to convert as she learned more about the Islamic faith.

FINDING HER WAY

Takao confided her thoughts to her family. Like households across Japan, her family believes in Buddhism and celebrates Christmas over cake. It is a “typical Japanese family.”

Her mother, in tears, said she was sad they would not be able to enjoy pork dishes together but that she “does not dislike the idea.”

Takao’s father poignantly observed that “only a religion’s merits are visible to newcomers” and cautioned his daughter about the “negative sides” of religion following her conversion.

“But if you are ready for that to happen, all you need to do is think a problem through after you accept the doctrine,” he said.

Her father’s words came across as an encouraging push for Takao.

She made up her mind in April last year to convert to Islam. Takao took the decision so lightly that she felt she could “embrace it anytime.”

But as the fateful day approached, Takao struggled to sleep.

She would groan with nightmares and wake up in the middle of the night. Takao also contracted COVID-19.

She thought “this is not the right time” and dropped her plans.

SURPRISE PROPOSAL

Through her acquaintance, Takao got to know a Muslim man from Malaysia the following month.

They communicated in both Japanese and English. Takao felt attracted to his generous and open-minded personality.

Though Takao was puzzled that Muslims are not supposed to date prior to marriage, meaning that Islamic couples must tie the knot before they become intimate, she instinctively knew she “could get along with him as partners.”

This notion drove the anxiety out of her mind over leading the rest of her life as a Muslim.

“The resolution was significant enough to change my life,” she said. “I thought it was better to swing into action than do nothing at all, even if that might lead to regret.”

On her 26th birthday, Takao recited the Shahada in front of her boyfriend, family members and others. She had practiced repeatedly to overcome her nerves.

Relieved, Takao then smiled and heard her boyfriend ask: “Will you marry me?” in English.

Takao stared at him straight in the eye and nodded.

As a new Muslim, Takao vowed to carefully give thought to things from an objective perspective

Takao is not satisfied with every Islamic teaching, though.

One that rankles is women are banned from offering daily prayers during their periods.

“This sense of strangeness is possible only because I have just entered the faith,” she said. “I want to always keep that feeling in mind from here on out for the rest of my religious path.”

She recounted an attraction of her new self.

“Living in Japanese society is not without its difficulties either,” said Takao. “I can run to the Islamic world if I find them unbearable, now that I have two societies open to me.”