About Halal Foods

Halal foods are foods that are allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines. These guidelines are based on Quran, the holy book of Islam. Muslims cannot consume animals not slaughtered properly, pork and pork based products. Because the number of Muslim foreign students has been increasing, the seikyou cafeterias aim to provide them with healthy and tasty food that is prepared according to their religious requirements. Some selected cafeterias offer a whole range of delicious foods and salads prepared for Muslim students.

The food provided by Seikyou Cafeterias is delicious and allows Muslim students to select from a variety of dishes that include meat as well as salads and others. Thanks to Seikyou cafeterias Muslim students can save time and eat halal food in the cafeterias and don’t have to cook at home, saving valuable time for studying.

Michal Mazur, The University of Hokkaido

Halal Food in The University of Tokyo Co-op

I'm a Muslim. In the Islam faith, Muslims have certain dietary restrictions. All food that is allowed to be eaten by Muslims is called halal. Halal food is food which has been processed in accordance with Islamic rules, e.g. it must not contain ingredients derived from pork and cannot be cooked along with other non-halal ingredients. Because of this restriction, not all food provided by restaurants can be eaten by Muslims.

The Dai-ni Shokudo (Second Dining Hall) in Hongo Campus offers halal menu. Muslims can dine there without worrying about the halalness of the food. Halal beef curry and tandoori chicken sold there are cheap and delicious. On Fridays, after the Jumu'ah prayer many Muslim students gather in the dining room and eat halal menu while having chitchat.

At present, the service is available only in several dining halls. I hope that halal food will be available not only in the University of Tokyo, but also in other universities as well.

Reza Aryaditya Setyagraha, The University of Tokyo