Halal Food in Japan: Where to Find Certified Suppliers, Restaurants, and Imports

Japan is no longer a difficult market for halal food. Over the last decade, the combination of inbound Muslim tourism, Expo 2025 in Osaka, and Japanese exporters chasing growth in Muslim-majority markets has pushed halal from a niche concern to a working part of the food industry. For a Muslim traveller landing at Narita or Kansai, this means more certified restaurants, more clearly labelled supermarket products, and more prayer space in food courts. For a B2B buyer sourcing Japanese ingredients for the GCC, Malaysia, or Indonesia, it means a growing list of factories that hold a recognised halal certificate and know how to ship to your market.

This guide covers both angles — where to actually find halal food in Japan, and how to source halal-certified Japanese products as an importer. If you are planning a leisure trip, see our separate Halal Travel Guide: Japan for itineraries, mosque locations, and city-by-city restaurant picks. This article focuses on the food supply itself: certification bodies, product categories, exporters, and how to verify a supplier.

The Japan Halal Market in Context

Japan's resident Muslim population is small — industry estimates put it in the low six figures, made up of long-term residents, students, and a growing convert community. The far larger driver of halal demand is inbound tourism. Muslim travellers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the GCC, and increasingly Central Asia have made up a meaningful share of Japan's record tourist arrivals, and tour operators in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, and Dubai routinely package Japan as a Muslim-friendly destination.

Expo 2025 Osaka has accelerated this. Hotels, airports, and food service operators across the Kansai region have invested in halal-friendly menus, dedicated prayer spaces, and supplier audits in the run-up to the event. The infrastructure built around Expo 2025 — including a permanent uplift in halal supplier directories maintained by JETRO and prefectural governments — will outlast the event itself.

On the export side, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) and JETRO have been actively promoting halal-certified Japanese food to overseas buyers. Wagyu beef, soy sauce, snacks, green tea, and ramen are the categories where Japanese producers have invested most heavily in certification. The buyers are concentrated in Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore (for re-export), and increasingly the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

Halal Certification Bodies in Japan

Japan does not have a single state-backed halal authority equivalent to JAKIM in Malaysia or BPJPH in Indonesia. Certification is carried out by a number of private bodies, each with different recognition profiles and target markets. The three most commonly encountered are:

Japan Halal Association (JHA)

JHA is one of the longest-established halal certifiers in Japan. It targets both domestic food service (restaurants, hotels, caterers) and export-oriented manufacturers. JHA holds recognition arrangements with several overseas certification bodies, which matters for exporters: a JHA certificate is more useful if it is accepted by the destination market's national authority. For a B2B buyer, ask the supplier specifically which overseas bodies recognise their JHA certificate, and request the corresponding recognition documentation.

Muslim Professional Japan Association (MPJA) — sometimes referenced as MHC

MPJA is closely associated with Japan's resident Muslim community and tends to focus on the domestic market — certifying restaurants, food courts, and locally consumed products. Its certificates are widely seen in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto restaurant windows. For travellers, an MPJA-certified restaurant is a clear positive signal. For exporters targeting JAKIM or MUI markets, MPJA certification alone may not be sufficient — verify recognition status before relying on it.

Japan Halal Foundation (JHF) and Other Bodies

The Japan Halal Foundation and a handful of smaller bodies (including regionally focused certifiers) also operate in the market. The landscape can be confusing because the bodies use different audit standards and different recognition arrangements. For B2B buyers, the practical rule is: do not accept "halal-certified" as a generic claim. Always ask which body issued the certificate, request the certificate document, and verify recognition against your destination market's accepted certifier list. Our certifier directory tracks recognition status for the main bodies.

Categories of Halal Food in Japan

Certified Japanese-Made Products

The categories where Japanese manufacturers have invested most in halal certification are:

• Wagyu beef — a handful of Japanese abattoirs have built halal-dedicated lines or shifted entirely to halal slaughter. Wagyu exporters target the GCC and Malaysian premium retail and hospitality segments. Volumes remain limited relative to Japan's total wagyu output, but the certified share has grown materially.
• Soy sauce and seasonings — conventional Japanese soy sauce uses naturally fermented alcohol as part of the brewing process, which creates a halal compliance question. Several major producers now manufacture dedicated halal soy sauce lines using modified processes that meet JAKIM and other recognised standards. Mirin (sweet rice wine) is generally not certifiable; halal cooking alternatives exist.
• Ramen and noodles — instant ramen brands and ramen restaurant chains have launched halal product lines, primarily for export to Muslim-majority markets and for the domestic Muslim-tourist segment.
• Snacks and confectionery — including KitKat (regional halal-certified production for select markets), Japanese rice crackers, and traditional sweets reformulated for export. Verify the certificate covers the specific product and packaging variant you intend to import.
• Green tea and matcha — generally low-risk from an ingredient standpoint, but certifications are increasingly sought as a market access enabler for Muslim-majority destinations.
• Sake-free seasonings and dressings — reformulated versions of traditional Japanese seasonings that omit sake and mirin.

Imports

A significant share of the halal food available in Japan is imported. Malaysian, Indonesian, and Thai products dominate the imported halal aisle in specialty supermarkets and Muslim-oriented grocery stores in Tokyo, Osaka, and major university cities. Imports cover the core gaps that Japanese producers do not yet fill at scale — particularly halal meat (beyond a handful of certified wagyu lines), dairy, and processed foods. For a Muslim traveller stocking up at a supermarket, expect imported items alongside locally certified ones.

Restaurants

Certified halal restaurants are concentrated in Tokyo (Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara), Osaka (Namba, Umeda), Kyoto, Fukuoka, and around the major university districts. Categories range from full Japanese cuisine (halal ramen, halal sushi, halal yakiniku) to Indonesian, Malaysian, Turkish, and Middle Eastern restaurants serving the resident community and Muslim tourists. For travellers, check whether a restaurant displays a certificate from JHA, MPJA, or another recognised body, and whether the certificate is current. Self-declared "Muslim-friendly" venues (no pork, no alcohol on the menu) are common and useful for casual meals, but they are not the same as a certified halal kitchen.

The B2B Angle: Sourcing Halal-Certified Japanese Products

For importers and trading houses sourcing Japanese halal product, the supplier landscape is fragmented. Most halal-certified Japanese manufacturers are small to mid-sized firms, and the certification is often product-line-specific rather than facility-wide. The practical implications:

Verifying a Japanese Supplier's Certificate

Before placing a sample order, run through the following checks:

1. Obtain the certificate document. Request a PDF of the current certificate. Check the issuing body, the certificate number, the validity period, and the specific products and product lines covered. A facility-level certificate does not always cover every SKU produced at that facility.
2. Confirm recognition with your destination market. If you are importing into Malaysia, check that the issuing body is on JAKIM's recognised foreign halal certification bodies list. For Indonesia, check BPJPH's accepted bodies. For the GCC, check the relevant national authority (e.g., ESMA for the UAE).
3. Request supporting documentation. Ingredient lists, Certificates of Analysis, and slaughterhouse documentation (for meat) should be available on request. Reputable Japanese exporters maintain these as standard.
4. Verify the certificate is current. Certificates typically have a validity window of one to two years. Lapsed certificates are not acceptable for shipment.
5. Cross-check with the certification body directly. Most Japanese halal certifiers can confirm whether a specific certificate is genuine and active. This step is worth taking for any first-time supplier engagement.

For ingredient-level screening of any Japanese product you are evaluating, our Ingredient Checker covers common Japanese food additives, fermentation-derived ingredients, and processing aids.

JETRO and Government Export Support

JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) maintains active programmes supporting Japanese food exporters into Muslim-majority markets. For B2B buyers, JETRO is a useful first point of contact for identifying credible suppliers: JETRO's overseas offices in Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Dubai, and Singapore can introduce buyers to vetted Japanese halal exporters, and JETRO hosts buyer missions and matching events around major food expos. JETRO is also the official supporter behind Japanese pavilions at international halal trade shows.

Food Expo Presence

The two events that matter most for sourcing halal-certified Japanese food are:

• Foodex Japan — the largest food and beverage trade show in Asia, held annually in the Tokyo area. Foodex Japan has a dedicated halal section and is the most efficient single venue for meeting Japanese halal exporters across all major categories. Many exporters list their certification status in advance through the show's online directory.
• Overseas halal expos — Japanese pavilions appear regularly at MIHAS (Malaysia), Halal Expo Indonesia, Gulfood (UAE), and SIAL Middle East. These are often the easier venues for first-time buyers to meet Japanese suppliers in a halal-focused setting.

For a current list of upcoming events with Japanese halal exhibitors, browse events in Japan on HalalExpo.

Trade Route Considerations

From a logistics standpoint, the most established halal food trade lanes out of Japan run to Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang), Singapore (often as a re-export hub for South-East Asia), Indonesia (Jakarta), and the UAE (Dubai, as a hub for onward GCC distribution). Sea freight is the standard mode for shelf-stable products; chilled and frozen wagyu and processed meat move by air freight or controlled-atmosphere sea freight.

Documentation requirements vary by destination market. JAKIM-accepted halal certification is typically required at port of entry for Malaysia; BPJPH compliance is increasingly mandatory for Indonesia under the 2024 rollout. For GCC destinations, the relevant national authority sets the rules — UAE imports under ESMA, Saudi imports under SFDA, and so on. Build the documentation requirements into your purchase contract with the Japanese supplier rather than discovering them at port.

What to Watch Next

Three things to track over the next 12 to 24 months. First, post-Expo 2025 momentum — whether the halal infrastructure built up around Osaka in 2025 sustains into ongoing supplier growth. Second, BPJPH recognition arrangements with Japanese certifiers, which will determine how smoothly Japanese halal product flows into Indonesia under the mandatory regime. Third, the wagyu export segment, where Japanese producers are competing with Australian halal-certified Wagyu for the premium GCC market.

Next Steps

If you are a buyer looking to source halal-certified Japanese product, start with the Japan food and beverage directory to find listed suppliers and their certification status. For travel planning, see our Halal Travel Guide: Japan. For background on the certification bodies referenced here, browse the halal certifier directory, and use the Ingredient Checker to screen specific products you are evaluating.