Tokyo Mosque (Tokyo Camii)
Ottoman domes and a 41-metre minaret rising out of a Shibuya backstreet — built by Russian exiles, completed by Turkish craftsmen.
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Japan's largest mosque was first raised in 1938 by Bashkir and Tatar immigrants who fled Russia after the October Revolution. The 2000 rebuild brought around 70 Turkish craftsmen to finish the interior, marble imported from Turkey, at a cost of roughly 1.5 billion yen — making it a genuine piece of Ottoman craft dropped into central Tokyo.
What to look for
- The second-floor prayer room's white marble mihrab and minbar, both edged in gold detailing
- The 41.48-metre minaret and 23.25-metre central dome supported by six pillars — visible from the street
- Turquoise and white used throughout interior and exterior, the same Ottoman palette as Istanbul's Blue Mosque
Located in Ōyama-chō, Shibuya ward; an adjoining Turkish culture center shares the building.
Tokyo Mosque (Tokyo Camii) is one of 35 sights worth the detour in Tokyo, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Tokyo pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Tokyo
- Mode Gakuen Cocoon TowerA 50-story school curved like a cocoon — white aluminum and dark-blue glass, criss-crossed by diagonal white lines — that beat 150 rival proposals and won Skyscraper of the Year.
- Tokyo SkytreeAt 634 metres, the height isn't random — 6-3-4 spells "Musashi," the ancient name for this exact corner of Tokyo.
- Tokyo TowerA third of its steel came from US tanks scrapped after the Korean War — Japan's postwar recovery, painted orange and bolted into the sky.
- National Diet LibraryBorn in 1948 as a "citadel of popular sovereignty," Japan's national library holds 12 million volumes — and anyone can walk in.
- Akihabara (Electric Town)The black market that outgrew itself and became Japan's otaku capital.
- Tokyo National MuseumOne in ten of every artwork Japan has ever officially designated a National Treasure lives here.