Abstract — The Tokyo Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games will be held in 2020. Many Muslim people have stayed in and travelled to Japan recently, and more are expected to do so during the games. As such, food integrity is important in Japan from an inbound perspective, especially for Muslim people because they need safe and reliable food, which conforms to their religion – that is, halal food. Halal means "permissible" in the teachings of Islam, and halal food types are those obtained in accordance with these teachings. Halal food is not widely available for Muslim people in Japan at present. Therefore, the focus of this paper is halal food integrity, which is investigated by studying halal certification systems and through interviews of 20 Japanese companies that handle halal food. The purpose of this study is to suggest how we could ensure high integrity of halal food in Japan. The companies interviewed are classified by the arc of integration theory. The findings indicate that a periphery-facing policy – meaning moderate integration from suppliers to customers – has been adopted by 17 companies. However, their management strategy depends on either halal certification or on a Muslim friendly policy. The companies with a Muslim friendly policy have adopted a strategy of information integration, rather than delivery integration. The companies with halal certification have adopted both directions of supply chain integration. Index Terms— arc of integrity, halal certification, Muslim friendly, supply chain integrity I. INTRODUCTION HEAD of the Tokyo Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games in 2020, it is expected that the number of foreign tourists to Japan will increase. In fact, the number of Muslim tourists will increase, and a safe and reliable food supply for them will be necessary [1]. Furthermore, the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) region has recently displayed economic growth and market expansion, and Japanese companies aim to export Japanese food, mainly to Manuscript received January 5, 2018; revised January 30, 2018. Daisuke Kitayama is the master student with the Graduate School of Engineering, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 221-8686 Japan (e-mail: r201770146oq@jindai.jp). Masato Takanokura is with the Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 221-8686 Japan (corresponding author to provide phone: +81-45-481-5661; fax: +81-45-413-6565; e-mail: takanokura@ kanagawa-u.ac.jp). Mitsuharu Ogiya is with the Faculty of Engineering, Kanagawa University, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama 221-8686 Japan (e-mail: ogiya@kanagawa-u.ac. jp). Siti Hawa Radin Eksan is with the Faculty of Management and Muamalah, Kolej Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Selangor, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Mohd Helmi Ali is with the Faculty of Economics and Management, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Southeast Asia, in line with the boom in popularity of Japanese cuisine there. The Muslim population in the ASEAN region is about 40% and many Muslim people have stayed in and travelled to Japan recently. Therefore, halal food has become more important for Muslim people in Japan from an inbound perspective. Halal is the Arabic word meaning "permissible" in the teachings of Islam. We study food produced in accordance with this teaching, defining it as halal food. A certification system, which is named “halal certification,” has been established to ensure that food is produced according to halal. The food supply chain has been defined as series of supply processes, from food production to storage, distribution, processing, sales and consumption [2]. Similarly to non-halal food, the halal food supply chain and its management are important in Japan. Tan et al. [3] proposed a framework of the halal food supply chain. They established a conceptual model for investigating the relationship between the supply chain integration and halal food supply chain integrity in a Malaysian context. Their results indicated that internal integration and strategy had a positive influence on the halal food supply chain integrity. Strategic cooperation should be undertaken with suppliers that focus on the quality and safety of raw materials for halal food. Ali et al. [4] also investigated the impact of external integration on compliance with halal standards, as an example of product integrity within the food industry. Their study extended existing research on food integrity to examine not only food quality and safety, but also the food supply chain from production, procurement, and distribution for Malaysian halal foods. They found a clear influence on customer integration in two aspects: product quality and cost, but no definite impact on supplier integration. IntanMarzitaSaidon et al. [5] investigated supply chain integration of Japanese food and beverage companies in Malaysia. They proposed a short and succinct supply chain regardless of the size of the company. The Japanese companies had short and concise supply chains and procured raw materials from farms in Malaysia, which enhanced time efficiency. Most companies had not signed contracts with suppliers, indicating that they had established a long-term relationship with suppliers based on mutual agreements. In addition to halal food, the safety and reliability of all supplied foods should be improved for all the stakeholders world-wide. That is the concept of “food integrity.” Ali et al. [6] proposed how halal food integrity of focal companies could be improved through supply chain integration from a Malaysian perspective. They discussed halal integrity A Study on the Halal Food Supply Chain in Japan from an Inbound Perspective Daisuke Kitayama, Masato Takanokura, Mituharu Ogiya, Siti Hawa Radin Eksan, and Mohd Helmi Ali A Proceedings of the International MultiConference of Engineers and Computer Scientists 2018 Vol II IMECS 2018, March 14-16, 2018, Hong Kong ISBN: 978-988-14048-8-6 ISSN: 2078-0958 (Print); ISSN: 2078-0966 (Online) IMECS 2018