The Halal Industry In Japan

Today, the halal industry is indeed becoming a trend in the international area, especially in the tourism industry. In fact, this halal tourism industry is one of the tourism sectors which are a new economic resource for some countries in the world because the halal industry is currently a new concept in the business world. Besides being applied to countries that are predominantly Muslim, the development of the halal industry is fairly rapid in the majority of non-Muslim countries such as Singapore, Thailand, Japan, United Kingdom, etc. The halal industry is growing rapidly throughout the world where it can provide opportunities for Muslim countries. Basically, the halal tourism industry is not much different from tourism in general. However, this tourism program is part of the tourism industry which is aimed at Muslim tourists where the services provided must be based on Islamic rules. Some examples of these types of services are restaurants that have halal certification and do not use pork as food ingredients, do not provide alcohol, use beef and chicken slaughtered according to Islamic rules, and provide facilities for worship. In addition, the halal industry is the largest market in the food industry where halal food has been consumed reaching nearly 2 million people from 25% of the total population in the world. Japan is one of the countries in the East Asia region known as the State of the Rising Sun or the State of Sakura. Japan is also the third largest archipelagic country in the world after Indonesia, and the Philippines has 4 large islands namely Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu where Honshu Island is the largest island in Japan. Astronomically, Japan is located between 30° – 47° North Latitude and between 128° – 146° East Longitude. The astronomical location affects the climate conditions of Japan which differ between northern and southern regions. In the northern region is temperate, while the southern region has a subtropical climate. About 97% of Japan’s territory is in the form of land and most of the islands in Japan are mountainous, some of which are volcanoes, one of which is Mount Fuji which is also the highest mountain in Japan. In addition, Japan also has 4 seasons, which are winter that occurs in December-February, in March-May in spring, June-August has a summer season, and in September-November is autumn where 4 seasons fall makes Japan become one attractive destination for foreign tourists, especially Muslim tourists like Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries in the Middle East.

In today’s era, Japan is one of the countries that are trying to position the tourism sector as a new economic resource. Tourism is a strategic sector and becomes a media for integrating programs and activities between development sectors so that tourism makes sense to be the leading development. Tourism has experienced continuous expansion and diversification in the world and has become one of the largest economic sectors experiencing the fastest growth in the world. It is proven that even though countries in the world have experienced a global crisis several times, the number of people traveling on an international level shows positive growth from year to year. The number of foreign tourists including Muslim tourists who come to Japan from year to year is always increasing. According to the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO), in 2012, foreign tourists visiting Japan amounted to 8 million people. Meanwhile, a significant surge occurred in 2013, namely the first time the number of foreign tourists penetrated the figure above 10 million people.

On the other hand, the increase in the number of foreign tourists in 2014 to 2017 reached 28 million people. Among these foreign tourists, an estimated 250,000 people are Muslim tourists, which by in 2020 are predicted that the number of Muslim tourists in Japan will increase to 1 million. Based on the increase of foreign tourists coming to Japan, one of the things that are being heavily studied by the Japanese government is the halal industry in Japan where the halal industry has experienced significant growth in recent years. As it is known that the halal industry in the world is very potential. In addition to providing guarantees to the Muslim community, if the industry is managed optimally, it will be able to make one of the attractions of Muslim tourists in many countries. Geographically, Japan is the country that far away from countries that embrace Islam. Japan is a non-Muslim country with a majority population of Buddhists and Shintos. In Japan, Islam has not long been recognized by some Japanese people so that the number of people who embrace Islam is very little. Nevertheless, it can be said that Japan is really serious about developing halal tourism. This can be proven by the award given to Japan as “World Best Non-OIC Emerging Halal Destination” at the 2016 World Halal Tourism Award held in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

In addition, the seriousness of the Japanese government in developing the halal industry can be proven by the provision of halal-certified products which are able to attract Muslim tourists from various countries. Japan also pays attention to the application of sharia principles in the field of tourism, including halal standardized foods. The increase in the halal tourism industry is also one of the preparations for the Japanese government to welcome the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Japanese government has estimated that Muslim tourists who will come to Japan in 2020 will come in large numbers so that many preparations will be made to welcome Muslim tourists from many countries such as providing halal standardized food and also providing public facilities for worship. In developing this halal industry, Japan invites several countries with a majority Muslim population such as Malaysia and Indonesia to be able to cooperate in producing halal food through small and medium enterprises. In addition, not only collaborate in producing halal food, but the Japanese government also wants to develop this halal tourism industry by providing some facilities needed by Muslim tourists such as places of worship, lodging, cosmetics, and other halal products. In terms of collaborating with Japanese SMEs, the Japanese government provides several facilities that can be used by SMEs to be easier in developing their halal industry.

National Interest

In the national interest, the role of the state as a decision-making actor and playing an important role in international affiliation affect the people in the country. The national interest is created from the needs of a country. This interest can be seen from the internal conditions, both from the political-economic, military, and socio-cultural conditions. The role of a country in providing material as the basis of national interest is undeniable to be the center of attention of the international community as a country that has an attached relationship of its foreign policy. Thus, the national interest is conceptually used to explain the foreign policy behavior of a country. According to Hans J. Morgenthau, the national interest is the minimum ability of states to protect and preserve the physical, political and cultural identity of other countries. In the book Miroslav Micnic (1999) entitled “The National Interest and Its Interpretation”, Morgenthau argues that the national interest is the same as the state’s efforts to pursue power, where power is anything that can develop and maintain a country’s control over other countries. In addition, the national interest can be interpreted as the goal that must be achieved by each country in carrying out its foreign policy where the national interest is the result of political compromise between various parties in a different state of interest. The national interest is usually found in every state constitution so it must be championed by every entity in the country.

On the other hand, as Kindleberger explained about the national interest is “national interest is the relationship between the created states because of the difference in the advantages possessed by each country in the production. Such comparative advantage opens opportunities for specialization that each country chooses to support national development according to the national interest”. This understanding explains that the diversity of every country in the world has different capacities so that these countries want to cooperate by looking at the conditions of the advantages that can be considered. Implementation of this national interest can be either bilateral or multilateral cooperation depending on the needs of each country.

From these explanations can be interpreted that the foreign policy of a country is a strategy or a series of activities that have been planned and developed by decision makers of a country against other countries that are intended to achieve goals more specific to its national interests. Although the foreign policy objectives of a country with other countries are different, in general, the goal will be about independence, territorial integrity, military security, and the economy. Thus it can be seen that Japan’s national interest to other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia is of interest in improving the economy of its country through Halal tourism. With the Halal tourism, the Japanese government expects more and more Muslim tourists to visit their country. Therefore, the national interest of the Japanese Government that leads to the economy will continue to be fulfilled through the entry of foreign exchange from visiting Muslim tourists.

Soft Power

Actors of International Relations, in particular, the state need the power that can be used to influence others in achieving the desired goals. The manifestation of power can be done in three ways, namely threats or coercive, inducement and payment, and the attraction to make the other party do what is desired. Power embodied in the first two ways is categorized by hard power and realized through attraction is categorized as soft power. Hard power is the ability to change what the other party is doing, while soft power is the ability to influence and shape what the other side wants. According to Joseph S. Nye, soft power is defined as the power or ability to influence others to get the desired result through the use of attraction rather than the use of violence or reward. The power of a country is primarily based on three sources, namely culture (which makes it attractive to others), political values (held by the state at home and abroad), and foreign policy (which makes the state legitimate and moral authority). The actors involved in the formation of soft power are termed as referees and soft power receivers. “Referees” soft power is associated with the source of legitimate reference and soft power credibility, while soft-power “receivers” are the intended targets of soft power recipients. Soft power of Japan in Halal tourism policy emerges from various Japanese cultural blends with regard to Islamic culture from other countries, so the Japanese government is able to improve Halal tourism by providing Halal facilities for Muslim tourists in the form of places of worship, and restaurants that provide Halal food to be able to attract Muslim travelers to Japan.

Decision Making Process

In his book The Political System, Easton explains that his theory is an alternative approach in understanding the way or the steps of the formation of a policy or better known as the conceptual framework of the workings of a political system. In this political study, it discusses how a policy can be formed and ultimately executed or executed for society. This framework of thought can be presented in an image which can facilitate the process of policy-making analysis, as follows: In the process of making policy according to David Easton this, there are several points of input, political system, output, and feedback-environment.

Input

The points contained in these inputs are demands and support where those inputs will later become information that is then processed in the political system and can also give the impetus to keep the system running. These inputs arise from society because of dissatisfaction with things that become scarce and difficult to achieve or achieve. This is referred to as the demands points where these demands can be input in the political system. In addition, there are also support points that play a role to keep the function of this system is still running, because when the demands want to affect the relevant processes and require support from other parties. In this case, there are some wishes by the Japanese government in improving its economy, one of which is by increasing its tourism industry through Halal tourism. As it is known, currently the halal tourism is a trend in the international tourism industry and as a new concept in the business world. Halal tourism industry in Japan has experienced significant growth in recent years where the Japanese Government is encouraged to promote the halal tourism industry, as Muslim tourists from all over the world begin to arrive in Japan. Japan’s desire to boost the Halal industry was also boosted by Japan’s election to host the Tokyo Olympics 2020.

Political System

Based on David Easton’s definition, the political system is part of a social system which has a role to play in the allocation of values in the form of decisions or policies whose form of allocation is authoritative and reinforced by legitimate positions or powers and binding on all layers community. Thus, all actions directly related to the making of decisions binding on the community are included in a political system. In the political system, it is seen as a place where the process of change, from the input, is converted into output. In this part of the political system, there is a collection of decision-making actors such as the Government, Political Parties, Parliaments, etc. Japan as a democratic country has a constitutional structure which includes the supra political structure and political infrastructure which can be seen in the 1947 Constitution. In improving its halal tourism industry, the Japanese Government is the main actor in decision making. The initial effort by the Japanese Government to increase the halal tourism industry is by increasing the number of Muslim tourists first to go to Japan. One way the Japanese Government attracted the attention of the world community, especially Muslim tourists is by organizing seminar of halal and sharia hotels in Tokyo on January 2014 in which the seminar is handled by Halal Development Foundation Japan (HDFJ) which discusses the potential of sharia tourism and the provision of menus that have materials and through the process of cooking qualify halal. In addition, the efforts of the Japanese government in attracting Muslim tourists are seen from a range of breakthroughs including sending a number of people that being staffs to a predominantly Muslim country such as Malaysia and Indonesia to see what the needs of Muslim tourists are in Japan. By making halal industry a current market phenomenon and trend, many businesspeople are working on the Japanese government’s move in its strategy to boost the economy of the tourism sector in which many business people hold events like Halal Development Council (HDC) that organizes training for business people, as well as events Japan Halal Summit 2010.

Output

These points are referred to as outputs or outcomes in which these results constitute political system processes that have been in the form of decisions or policies or government actions against a problem in society. In an effort to improve the economy through its tourism sector, the Japanese Government has a Japanese policy strategy that is to provide Halal food and some public facilities to facilitate Muslim tourists in Japan, one of which is the halal certification for improving the economy of tourism. In addition, the Government of Japan provides a budget of 6 billion yen in 2014 as a 50 percent subsidy for the purchase of halal product facilities against Japanese SMEs. The Japanese government is also cooperating with a country that has a majority Muslim population like Malaysia to improve its Halal industry.

Feedback/Environment

This point is a form of response that will emerge from the environment and its position is outside the boundaries of the political system, but still in the same society. Increasing the number of tourists to Japan is one of the results of the Japanese decision that has made policy in the management of the Japanese tourist sector. As Japan faces increasing Muslim tourists as it is today, the provision of Halal industry in Japan is getting a reaction to its policy of increasing opportunities to improve the Japanese economy through the tourism sector, especially tourists coming from Muslim countries because it creates a sense of security and comfort when traveling to Japan. This feedback will also rise to re-input, and can be used as a back-up for future policy and so on.

On the other hand, David Easton explains that citizens’ requests are included in the input points which will later become a consideration of government or decision-makers, and the decisions are output points. The output has an influence on political, social, and economic sustainability. In fact, the possibility of citizens can be satisfied and dissatisfied with decisions that policymakers have made with the consequences of citizens’ reaction to the policy becoming new inputs to the government.