Being muslims simply does not hinder us to travel around the world. We admit that, sometimes, there is a worry on how and where we could perform our prayers. But nowadays, information regarding mosques or islamic communities is now available in most of tourist-destination countries, including Japan. This info was then used to prepare our trip.

We had a whole day in Nagoya, it was thus a must to pay a visit to one of its mosques. In Nagoya alone, there are at least 2 mosques listed on the internet. The one that we went to is about 20-minute away from Nagoya Station.

Nagoya Station – Nagoya Mosque

Looking at the above map, it should be quite easy to find the mosque. Unfortunately, for us, it took a lot of efforts and patience to finally got there (please note that this may only apply in our case). The thing was because we took the wrong turn. Thank God there was an old woman and her dog that helped us finding the way. Although she didn’t speak English, she got the idea where we were heading to. She was so kind that she and her dog led us until we reached this building:

At that time, we had about 10 minutes left to perform our prayers before Maghrib. So we embraced the door on the left, took off our shoes, and directly ran upstairs where women area is located. About 1 minute after we finished our salam, there came the sound of adzan, the sound of peacefulness.

In terms of size and capacity, Nagoya Mosque is relatively small compare to most of the mosques in Indonesia. This 3-stair building has office and small library in its first floor, while women and men area are in its 2nd and 3rd floor, respectively. When we talk about cleanliness, it is obvious that the community mantains the mosque properly. Its facilities are also fascinating, as the 2nd floor has a 25-inch monitor showing the 3rd floor to allow the women see their imam. Kindly look for more info of this mosque as well as its islamic community on the official website.

Apart from to perform our prayers, visiting a mosque while travelling is often take us home. Well, at least, the feels. In Nagoya Mosque, we met an Indonesian family with small children. We talked a bit after our prayers, and somehow felt that we were not thousand kilometers away from our beloved country. Yes, this is the feel of home.