Halal food in Kyoto University is news?

The Japan Times posted the following small item from Kyodo News:

Kyoto University will start providing food permissible under Islamic law at the school’s cafeteria to meet the needs of the increasing number of Muslim students on campus.

The cafeteria will introduce a halal food corner from Tuesday, avoiding pork and seasonings of pork origin, which Muslims are banned from eating. The new menus include chicken and croquettes made of broad beans, it said.

More than 1,000 Muslims live in the city of Kyoto, and many are Kyoto University students and their families.

The rare introduction is aimed at supporting such Muslim students, whose population is expected to rise under the university’s plans to accept more foreign students.

While the co-op said it had problems in arranging a cooking environment to avoid mixing pork and related seasonings with halal food, it solved the issue by preparing the food at different hours.

The odd thing is that they have actually been serving dishes labeled as Halal in the main cafeteria (中央食堂) since, at the very least, when I arrived in April of last year. I’m rather puzzled at why something that they have been doing for some time would be reported as news.

6 thoughts on “Halal food in Kyoto University is news?”

  1. “why something that they have been doing for some time would be reported as news”

    I see this a lot actually. Slows News Day is the reason I guess.

  2. “Three words – creeping Muslim takeover!”

    I read that as CREEPY Muslim takeover the first time.

  3. Perhaps the Japan Times was saving the Kyodo wire copy until they had a whole to fill on a slow news day. Or Kyodo didn’t report the new menu until they got a press release from Kyoto U or Co-op.

    Either way it’s a good example of churnalism
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Churnalism

  4. There must be some Hindus as well that can’t eat beef. I can’t believe that their also aren’t Jewish students that have kosher needs. And let’s not forget the vegans. I have celiac disease so I’d really like it if they could make everything gluten free, too. I’m not a student but just in case I visit.

  5. Turns out there actually was some news, but the article was both inaccurate and lacking in detail. The new thing is a counter setup inside the Rune cafeteria that serves kebab and falafel wraps and platters. Unfortunately they use a tortilla style wrap and not even an attempt at pita, but it’s still a decent light meal-especially for the price. There’s a restaurant called Falafal Garden close to campus that has far more authentic/better versions of these items, but also for about double the price.

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