“Pakistan in Saitama”, Yashiostan.
Do you know a country called “Yashiostan”? Probably not! It is not an existing country, but it is an area in Saitama prefecture. The area is called Yashio (八潮市), and the city fas so many Pakistanis, which is the reason why now the area is called as Yashio+stan.
Yashio city is approximately 1 hour from Tokyo station. Though it is a bit far, the area is very attractive for our Muslim readers. Let’s get to know more about Yashiostan and why it is attractive.
Why was Yashiostan founded?
The population of the city is about 90,000, with 4,000 people with foreign passport. 160 out of 4,000 foreigners are said to be Pakistanis, which means that only about 0.2% of the whole population is Pakistanis. Well, this number does not look so big, then why is the city now widely recognized as Yashiostan?
Pakistanis started to live in Yashio, because the city is located at the very convenient place for their business. Their business is to buy old and used Japanese cars to export to other countries, which means that they have to go to old car market in Saitama or other suburban cities frequently. Yashio has a very convenient access to do so.
That is not the only reason. There is a famous Pakistani restaurant “Karachi Restaurant Yashio (カラチの空)” in the city. The restaurant serves authentic Pakistani food to the people migrated to Japan, which has created a Pakistani community.
The owner does not only help Pakistanis: He tries to bridge the cultural difference between Japan and Pakistan by educating Pakistanis to follow Japanese manners and etiquette. Thanks to his effort, he and his Pakistani community gained huge trust by Japanese people, which is now accepted in the city.
Why is Yashiostan attractive for Muslim visitors?
With this background, there are relatively many Halal restaurants in the city, as you can see from our article: the list of Halal restaurants in Saitama. On 3 March 2023, a new facility has opened in Yashio.
Halal Supermarket & Halal Food Court Yashio (ナショナルマート＆ハラール屋台村 八潮スタン) has food court with wide variety of international cuisine and supermarket with imported Halal groceries. In the food court, there is Pakistani, Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian and even sweet shops, and you can choose to eat at the food court or take them away.
It is definitely the very first place that features “Halal” in a complex facility in Japan. It is an exciting place for Muslims coming to Japan, because it is possible to enjoy all the nice cuisine at one place!
We will update you with more information when we get more details about the facility.
Details of the facility
Name: Halal Supermarket & Halal Food Court Yashio (ナショナルマート＆ハラール屋台村 八潮スタン)
Address: 8-10 4 chome, Yashio, Saitama 340-0815 埼玉県八潮市4丁目8-10