Rustam Minnikhanov visits the historical mosque in Kobe

On October 7, during his working visit to Japan, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov visited the historical mosque in Kobe.

The Kobe Turko-Tatar mosque was built in 1935 using funds of Muslim merchants from Pakistan and the Turko-Tatar community of the city of Kobe. It is the first mosque built in Japan and a symbol of the adoption of Islam in Japan as an equal religion.

The mosque was officially opened with the participation of the Japanese authorities on the 11th of October in 1935. The first imam was Modiyar Shamgunov (10.10.1874, Ufa province - 18.06.1937, Kobe). The last Tatar imam was Khusain Kilki. Today, his widow, Rakibe Kilki, lives with his son and his family in Kobe. They are the last remaining representatives of the Turko-Tatar emigration in Kobe.

Today, the imam of the mosque is a British citizen, Pakistani by birth. The mosque is open to the public. Moreover, it is considered one of the tourist attractions of the city.

The imam showed Minnikhanov around the mosque and historical photos. In particular, after one of the most devastating earthquakes in Japan, which occurred in the city of Kobe in 1995, the mosque remained one of the surviving buildings.

Minnikhanov looked around the mosque and the territory adjacent to it and prayed. At the end of his visit, Minnikhanov presented two printed Korans to the Kobe Mosque.