Japan is tightening regulations on visas due to growing public concerns over immigration, but online claims circulating in Australia that Tokyo has enacted "anti-Islam laws" that include banning mosques and Muslim call to prayers are false. No such legislation has passed parliament, and a government agency overseeing religious groups told AFP that no such bans were introduced.
"JAPAN'S NEW ANTI-ISLAM LAWS SEND SHOCKWAVES," reads a graphic shared in an August 24, 2026 post in an Australian Facebook group supporting far-right politician Pauline Hanson, which has over 10,000 members.
The graphic also claimed that halal food, mosques, the Muslim call to prayer and burqas were all banned, adding that these moves were "basically saying Islam is not welcome here".
"Should we copy Japan? A. Yes," the graphic says.
The same image was posted on August 7 in another Facebook group critical of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, which was shared nearly 300 times.
The claim is not new -- a similar version was previously shared by X users in India and by a Philippine Facebook user based in Japan.
It resurfaced in Australia, gaining traction amid a rise in anti-immigration rhetoric -- fuelled in part by a series of marches held since 2025 -- and growing criticism of Albanese and his centre-left Labor Party (archived here and here).
Anti-Muslim sentiment has also become more mainstream in recent months, generating misinformation in Australia.
In Japan, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi...
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