NIIGATA (Kyodo) Hundreds of mostly Pakistani Muslims are forming communities in the Sea of Japan prefectures of Niigata and Toyama, thriving in businesses linked to exports of secondhand cars to Russia and the Middle East. 

"Here is Little Pakistan," joked one Niigata resident. "Japanese people need a visa (to come here). I don't have a chance to talk to any Japanese."

The man said he lives, works and eats in a restaurant in the environs of Higashi port, about 20 km from the heart of the city of Niigata.

About 200 Pakistanis work in the port area, where used-car dealers display signboards painted green -- the color of the Pakistani flag. The language spoken is Urdu, but Russians can also be seen bicycling around the district.

Standing silently and inconspicuously behind a factory, a prefabricated mosque without a dome attracts about 100 Muslim men each week for Friday prayers. Chanting words from the Quran, they stand up and bow toward Mecca. They listen to a sermon delivered by Amjad Hassan, 43, an assistant professor at Niigata University who serves as their imam.

In neighboring Toyama Prefecture, more than 300 Pakistanis live in a neighborhood in the city of Imizu, part a region along a national highway where used car outlets stand side by side.

Some Pakistanis are married to Japanese, and there has been a problem with the meat served in school lunches. Some parents have complained about being told to go home when telling the school they were concerned the meat has not been prepared in accordance with Islamic teachings, or halal.

"I like Japan very much, but I feel insecure about dying here," said Imtiaz Mohammad, a 44-year-old used car dealer, adding that cremation is "out of the question."

The Pakistani community's chief concern, he said, is whether to scrounge for space in Japan for proper burials or to send the bodies of fellow Pakistanis home by air at huge cost.

Hassan, a biotechnology specialist, served as a bridge between Pakistanis and Japanese before returning to Pakistan recently.

Pakistani residents would ask him a variety of questions after holding prayers at the mosque. These included whether it was all right for Muslims to eat "gyudon," a dish of steamed rice topped with shaved beef, and requests to explain new customs clearance procedure.

He used to tell them that he would go to his university colleagues when asked a question he couldn't answer.

The Niigata Municipal Government put a lot of confidence in Hassan, saying it was certain that something could be done if the Pakistanis sought his assistance.

For its part, the Toyama Prefectural Government is planning to hire an Urdu-speaker on a part-time basis in fiscal 2007.

Keiko Sakai, a professor of Islamic political science at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, said Japanese and Pakistanis must first establish an environment for mutual reliance if they are to avoid forming prejudiced images of each other.