Kobe Mosque

Kobe Masjid
神戸モスク
Kōbe Mosque
Kobe Masjid; 神戸モスク; Kōbe Mosque
	Kobe Mosque
Religion
Affiliation	Islam
Location
Location	2-25-14 Nakayamate Dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe-shi, Postal Code: 650-0004
Architecture
Architect(s)	Jan Josef Švagr
Type	Mosque
Minaret(s)	2

Kobe Masjid (神戸モスク, Kōbe Masjid), also known as Kobe Muslim Masjid (神戸ムスリムモスク, Kōbe Muslim Masjid), was founded in October, 1935 in Kobe and is Japan's first masjid.^[1] Its construction was funded by donations collected by the Islamic Committee of Kobe from 1928 until its opening in 1935.^[2] The mosque was confiscated by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943. However, it continues to function as mosque today. It is located in the Kitano-cho foreign district of Kobe. Owing to its basement and structure, the mosque survived the air raids that laid waste to most of Kobe's urban districts in 1945 and was able to endure through the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. The mosque is located in one of Kobe's best-known tourist areas, which features many old western style buildings.

The mosque was built in traditional Indo-Islamic style by the Czech architect Jan Josef Švagr (1885–1969), the architect of a number of Western religious buildings throughout Japan.

References

^ Penn, M. "Islam in Japan," Harvard Asia Quarterly Archived 2007-02-02 at the Wayback Machine Vol. 10, No. 1, Winter 2006., retrieved February 26, 2007
^ Agakhan third was a major contributor and then East Pakistan Prime Minister met Emperor of Japan to discuss the building of a mosque and Emperor was gracious enough to offer a land for its construction.Kobe Mosque Official Website Archived 2007-01-20 at the Wayback Machine - "History", retrieved February 26, 2007