Japan’s Rational Choice in Developing the Halal Industry

Abstract

Nowadays, the halal industry has become a new trend in various regions of the world, including East Asia, which the majority of the population is not Muslim. This research will focus on the development of the halal industry in various segments and the reasons that underlie one of the Muslim minority countries in the East Asia Region, namely Japan, in developing the halal industry as a rational choice for its country. This study uses a qualitative method, where data are collected from semi-structured interviews and literature studies. The results of this study indicate that for non-Muslim countries, particularly Japan, to develop the Halal industry as a rational choice are due to several reasons, namely globalization, the fall of Japanese yen, demographics, and bilateral relations between Japan and neighboring countries. In the end, some of these reasons stimulate Japan to take action to boost its economy and gain the most beneficial option, one of which is by developing the halal industry to reach out to the Muslim market.