Kobe Mosque, also known as Kobe Muslim Mosque, was founded in October, 1935 in Kobe and is Japan's first mosque. Its construction was funded by donations collected by the Islamic Committee of
Kobe from 1928 until its opening in 1935. The mosque was confiscated by the
Imperial Japanese Navy in 1943. However, it continues to function as mosque
today. It is located in the Kitano-cho foreign district of Kobe. Owing to its
basement and structure, the mosque survived the air raids that laid waste to
most of Kobe's urban districts in 1945 and was able to endure through the Great
Hanshin earthquake in 1995. The mosque is located in one of Kobe's best-known
tourist areas, which features many old western style building.
The mosque was built in traditional Indian style by the
Czech architect Jan Josef Švagr (1885–1969), the architect of a number of
Western religious buildings throughout Japan.