Muslim Professional Japan Association (MPJA)

The Muslim Professional Japan Association (MPJA) is a general incorporated association based in Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, founded on 23 January 2013. Led by its president Akmal Bin Abu Hassan, a Malaysian entrepreneur with long experience in Japan, the body certifies Japanese companies that want to sell halal products at home and export them to Muslim markets.

MPJA audits against its own halal standard, drawn up in line with the standards of Malaysia’s JAKIM and Indonesia’s BPJPH, and an in-house fatwa committee makes the final ruling on every certification. Its scopes cover food and beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, slaughterhouses, and logistics, alongside a separate Muslim Friendly certification for restaurants and hotels in Japan. For products bound for Indonesia, clients must also implement the SJPH halal product assurance system, and certification can be issued for individual production lines where a whole site cannot qualify.

The association is a member of the World Halal Food Council and lists mutual recognition partners across Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas, including BPJPH in Indonesia and CICOT in Thailand, so certified exporters can enter those markets without re-certification. MPJA states it was the first body in Japan to certify a dedicated halal slaughterhouse, opening the way for halal meat exports, and it also operates an e-learning platform for halal training.