FEATURE: Muslim couple open rural Japan home to build community

MATSUE, Japan - Dressed in kimono, a Moroccan Muslim and his Japanese wife whisk matcha tea and welcome visitors to their more than 100-year-old farmhouse in rural western Japan, where they hope to create a place where anyone can feel at home.

Fatih Ymran, a Moroccan IT engineer, and his wife Nanami, a former civil servant who converted to Islam before they married, have opened their traditional home in the mountainous Hakuta district of Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture, welcoming neighbors for tea, conversation and seasonal cooking.