Managing Historic Mosques in Muslim-Majority and Minority Contexts:

A Comparative Study between Indonesia and Japan

Abstract

Historic mosques play important religious, social, and educational roles, yet little is known about how their management adapts to different demographic contexts. This study compares the institutional structures, leadership roles, and facility arrangements of four historic mosques in Indonesia and Japan to understand how majority and minority settings relate to their functions. The research employed a qualitative comparative design. Data were collected through site observations, document review, in-depth interviews with mosque administrators and community leaders, and openended questionnaires distributed to 100 participants in Indonesia and 50 in Japan. Thematic analysis was used to identify patterns related to institutional ownership, managerial practices, and the organization of worship and community services. The findings show clear contrasts across the four cases examined. In the Demak Great Mosque and the Menara Kudus Mosque, governance involves collaboration between community actors and local government, resulting in collective decision-making and distributed religious leadership. In Kobe Muslim Mosque and Tokyo Camii, management is conducted by a community foundation and a foreign governmental authority respectively, with imams assuming broader roles in guiding worship, education, and social support. Facility profiles also differ among the mosques studied. The Indonesian cases emphasize worship, welfare services, and pilgrimage-related functions, whereas the Japanese cases incorporate educational, cultural, and in the case of Tokyo Camii, economic facilities that serve both Muslim congregants and segments of the surrounding public. These patterns suggest that, within the cases examined, institutional and spatial arrangements correspond to their specific demographic and organizational contexts.