Antisemitism in Japan has developed over the years despite the presence of a relatively small and obscure
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
population.
Japan had no traditional antisemitism until
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
ideology and
propaganda began to spread on the eve of World War II. Before and during the war,
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, an ally to the Japanese, encouraged Japan to adopt antisemitic policies. In the
post-war period,
extremist groups and
ideologues
An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied prim ...
have promoted
conspiracy theories
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources:
*
*
*
* The term has a nega ...
.
History
In 1918, the
Imperial Japanese Army
The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...
sent troops to
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
to cooperate with the
White movement.
White Army
The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
soldiers had been issued copies of ''
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...
'', and Japanese soldiers first learned about antisemitism. The ''Protocols'' continue to be used as evidence of Jewish conspiracies even though they are widely acknowledged to be a forgery.
According to
Dr. David Kranzler:
:"The key to the distinction between the Japanese and the European form of antisemitism seems to lie in the long
Christian tradition of identifying the Jew with the
Devil
A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of ...
, the
Antichrist
In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form)1 John ; . 2 John . ...
or someone otherwise beyond
redemption...The Japanese lacked this Christian image of the Jew and brought to their reading of the ''Protocols'' a totally different perspective. The Christian tried to solve the problem of the Jew by eliminating him; the Japanese tried to harness his alleged immense wealth and power to Japan's advantage."
[''Japanese, Nazis & Jews: The Jewish Refugee Community in Shanghai, 1938-1945'' by David Kranzler. p. 207.]
Pre–World War II
In 1925
Captain Norihiro Yasue published the first translation of the ''Protocols'' in Japanese. A Russian-language specialist, he was assigned to the staff of General
Gregorii Semenov
Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, or Semenov (russian: Григо́рий Миха́йлович Семёнов; September 25, 1890 – August 30, 1946), was a Japanese-supported leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and beyond from December ...
, a vehement
anti-Semite
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
who distributed copies of the ''Protocols'' to all of his troops. Along with a few dozen other Japanese soldiers, Yasue read and accepted the premises of the ''Protocols'', and contributed for a time to various antisemitic publications, including ''Kokusai Himitsu Ryoku no Kenkyu'' (国際秘密力の研究, Studies in the International Conspiracy), under the pen-name Hō Kōshi. He later changed his views when in 1940 Japan signed the
Tripartite Pact
The Tripartite Pact, also known as the Berlin Pact, was an agreement between Germany, Italy, and Japan signed in Berlin on 27 September 1940 by, respectively, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Galeazzo Ciano and Saburō Kurusu. It was a defensive milit ...
which formally sealed Japan's alliance with Nazi Germany. His newly pro-Semitic stance led to his dismissal from the Japanese Army.
During the 1930s
Minetaro Yamanaka (山中峯太郎) wrote stories about the ''Yudayaka'', the "Jewish Peril."
[Jacob Kovalio, ''The Russian Protocols of Zion in Japan: Yudayaka/Jewish Peril Propaganda and Debates in the 1920s,'' Vol. 64 of Asian Thought and Culture, Peter Lang, 2009](_blank)
; pp. 32-34. A major journalist at the Tokyo
Asahi Shimbun
is one of the four largest newspapers in Japan. Founded in 1879, it is also one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. Its circulation, which was 4.57 million for its morning edition a ...
, Yamanaka was a prolific author of children's fiction who serialized the novel ''Daitō no Tetsujin'' (Superman of the Great Orient) from August 1933 until the end of 1934 in the periodical
''Shōnen Kurabu'' (Boys' Club), read mainly by Japanese boys between the ages of 8 and 12. The hero of this story is the detective Hongō Yoshiaki who battles the villain Sekima, head of the shadowy Zion Alliance, a Jewish secret organization seeking to undermine the Japanese Empire. A typical quote from ''Superman of the Great Orient'':
:"There are about 13.5 million Jews scattered around the world. Hundreds of years ago they gobbled up all the world's wealth. Especially in the United States, Britain, France, and in other Western countries too, there are many rich Jews who do whatever they want with the money of the people...This wealth is used to increase the invisible Jewish power throughout Europe and the United States...These scary Jews have a secret society called the Zion Alliance. The goal of the Zion Alliance is...that all nations be ruled by Jews...This is a real global conspiracy."
Yamanaka stopped writing with the surrender of Japan in August 1945, but
Kodansha Ltd. continued reprinting this series until the 1970s.
In 1936
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Nobutaka Shiōden
was a lieutenant general in the Imperial Japanese Army, propagandist of a Jewish conspiracy theory during and after World War II and a legislator in the Diet of Japan.
Biography Military career
Shiōden was born to an ex-samurai of Maebashi Do ...
re-translated the ''Protocols'' into Japanese. Shiōden had become a fervent anti-Semite and a believer in Jewish
conspiracy theory while he was studying in France. When he returned to Japan he became the leading voice of antisemitic propaganda.
Brian Victoria states that
Tanaka Chigaku promoted antisemitism in Japan starting in 1937
[Brian Victoria, ''Zen War Stories'', London and New York: Routledge Curzon, 2003; p. 80.] with the publication of ''Shishi-ō Zenshū Daisan-shū'' (Complete Works of the Lion King), in which he said:
:"At present sixty to seventy percent of the world's money is said to be in Jewish hands. There are many poor and penniless countries that end up having to accept capital from abroad in order to get by, and consequently they have to submit to Jews in order to borrow the money they need. Typically Jews invest in transportation facilities, electric plants, railways and subways. ... The reason for this is based on the plan contained in the ''Protocols'' to constantly foment revolution in various countries, eventually leading to their collapse. It is then that the Jews will be able to take over.
According to Victoria, "Tanaka argued that Jews were fomenting social unrest in order to rule the world. He ...
oints outthat Jews advocated
liberalism
Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...
, especially within academic circles, as part of their plan to destroy the people's moral sense ... Helped by men like Tanaka, antisemitism spread rapidly throughout Japanese society despite the near-total absence of Jews."
World War II
In 1941
SS-Colonel
Josef Meisinger
Josef Albert Meisinger (14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was an SS functionary in Nazi Germany. He held a position in the Gestapo and was a member of the Nazi Party. During the early phases of World War ...
tried to influence the Japanese to exterminate approximately
18,000–20,000 Jews who had escaped from
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and Germany and who were living in Japanese-occupied
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...
.
His proposals included the creation of a
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
on
Chongming Island
Chongming, formerly known as Chungming, is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in eastern China covering as of 2010. Together with the islands Changxing and Hengsha, it forms Chongming District, the northernmost area of the ...
in the delta of the
Yangtze
The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...
, or starvation on freighters off the coast of China. The Japanese admiral responsible for overseeing Shanghai would not yield to pressure from Meisinger; however, the Japanese built a
ghetto in the neighborhood of Hongkew which had already been planned by Tokyo in 1939: a slum with about twice the
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The ghetto was strictly isolated by Japanese soldiers under the command of the Japanese official Kano Ghoya, and Jews could only leave it with special permission. Some 2,000 of them died in the
Shanghai Ghetto
The Shanghai Ghetto, formally known as the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkew district of Japanese-occupied Shanghai (the ghetto was located in the southern Hongkou and southwes ...
during the wartime period.
However, Japan refused to adopt an official policy against the Jews. On 31 December 1940, Japanese foreign minister
Yōsuke Matsuoka
was a Japanese diplomat and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan during the early stages of World War II. He is best known for his defiant speech at the League of Nations in February 1933, ending Japan's participation in the organ ...
told a group of Jewish businessmen: "Nowhere have I promised that we would carry out
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's anti-Semitic policies in Japan. This is not simply my personal opinion, it is the
opinion of Japan." Nonetheless, until 1945
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
was systematically concealed by the leadership in Tokyo.
Brian Victoria also states that
Haku'un Yasutani "was one of the few
Zen master
Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authoriz ...
s to integrate virulent antisemitism into his pro-war stance."
He quotes Yasutani's 1943 ''Dōgen Zenji to Shūshōgi'':
We must be aware of the existence of the demonic teachings of the Jews who assert things like he existence ofequality in the phenomenal world, thereby distorting public order in our nation's society and destroying overnmentalcontrol. Not only this, these demonic conspirators hold the deep-seated delusion
A delusion is a false fixed belief that is not amenable to change in light of conflicting evidence. As a pathology, it is distinct from a belief based on false or incomplete information, confabulation, dogma, illusion, hallucination, or som ...
and blind belief that ... they alone have been chosen by God and are hereforean exceptionally superior people. The result of all this is a treacherous design to usurp ontrol ofand dominate the entire world, thus provoking the great upheavals of today.
Although Yasutani was well known to have been a friend and
mentor
Mentorship is the influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the personal and p ...
of the
Nazi propagandist Karlfried Graf Dürckheim
Karl Friedrich Alfred Heinrich Ferdinand Maria Graf Eckbrecht von Dürckheim-Montmartin (24 October 1896 – 28 December 1988) was a German diplomat, psychotherapist and Zen master. A veteran of World War I, he was introduced to Zen Buddhism e ...
, Victoria feels that Japanese antisemitism evolved independently from the "heart of the 'home-grown' reactionary social role that institutional Buddhism played in Japanese society following the
Meiji Period
The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912.
The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...
."
Post–World War II
1970s
On May 30, 1972, three
Japanese Red Army
The was a militant communist organization active from 1971 to 2001. It was designated a terrorist organization by Japan and the United States. The JRA was founded by Fusako Shigenobu and Tsuyoshi Okudaira in February 1971 and was most active i ...
members arrived at the
Lod Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport, ; ar, مطار بن غوريون الدولي , commonly known by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on the northern outskirts of the city of Lod, it is th ...
near
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
aboard Air France Flight 132 from Rome. Acting on behalf of the
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ( ar, الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين, translit=al-Jabhah al-Sha`biyyah li-Taḥrīr Filasṭīn, PFLP) is a secular Palestinian Marxist–Leninist and revolutionary so ...
, they entered the waiting area of the airport and, in what became known as the
Lod Airport Massacre
The Lod Airport massacre"They were responsible for the Lod Airport massacre in Israel in 1972, which was committed on behalf of the PFLP." Jeffrey D. Simon, ''The Terrorist Trap: America's Experience with Terrorism'', Indiana University Press ...
, they grabbed automatic firearms from their carry-on cases and fired at airport staff and visitors. In the end, 26 people died and 80 people were injured. In 2008, the children of one of the victims sued
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
for plotting the attack, one of several acts that got the rogue nation listed as a
state sponsor of terrorism
State-sponsored terrorism is terrorist violence carried out with the active support of national governments provided to violent non-state actors. States can sponsor terrorist groups in several ways, including but not limited to funding terroris ...
in 1988.
At the end of the 20th century, many books about
Japanese-Jewish common ancestry theory
The is a fringe theory that appeared in the 17th century as a hypothesis which claimed the Japanese people were the main part of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. A later version portrayed them as descendants of a tribe of Central Asian Jewish conv ...
were sold. Numerous theories and explanations for the alleged Jewish control of the world were circulated. These books, called ''
tondemo-bon'' (outrageous or preposterous books), contained elements of the occult and
tabloid-style speculation.
In 1979, a book named 日本人に謝りたい あるユダヤ人の懺悔 ''Nihonjin ni ayamaritai - Aru yudayajin no zange'' (I'd like to apologize to the Japanese: A Jewish elder's confession) was published. The author of this book, Mordecai Mose (モルデカイ・モーゼ), called himself a rabbi, but actually, it was a
pseudonym
A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...
of the self-styled translator of this book, Masao Kubota (久保田政男). Kubota also spread the rumor that "
Enola Gay" means "Kill the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
" in
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
. This rumor is groundless, but anti-Semites in Japan still give credence to it.
1980s
In 1984, a book named 世界を動かすユダヤ・パワーの秘
''Sekai wo ugokasu yudaya pawah no himitsu''(Secrets of the Jewish Power that Controls the World) was published. This book is based on Jewish conspiracy theory. The author, Eizaburo Saito (斉藤栄三郎), was a leading member of the
Liberal Democratic Party.
In 1986, a book named ユダヤが解ると世界が見えてくる ''Yudaya ga wakaruto sekai ga miete kuru'' (To Watch Jews Is to See the World Clearly) became one of Japan's best sellers. This book is also based on the ''Protocols'' and the author, Masami Uno (宇野正美), writes that the
Ashkenazim
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
are actually descendants of
Khazarian
The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...
, hence they are "fake Jews," and that
Sephardim
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
are true
pedigreed
Purebreds are "cultivated varieties" of an animal species achieved through the process of selective breeding. When the lineage of a purebred animal is recorded, that animal is said to be " pedigreed". Purebreds breed true-to-type which means the ...
Jews. According to him, some of the Japanese are the descendants of the
Ten Lost Tribes
The ten lost tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Ash ...
of
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and that the Japanese Sephardim will defeat the Ashkenazim.
The same year a book named これからの10年間 ユダヤ・プロトコール超裏読み術―あなたに起こるショッキングな現実 ''Yudaya purotokoru cho-urayomi-jutsu'' (The Expert Way to Read Jewish Protocols) also became one of Japan's bestsellers. The author, Kinji Yajima (矢島鈞次, 1919–1994), an economist and a professor at
Aoyama Gakuin University
is a private Christian university in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Originally established in 1874 by missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church, it was reconfigured in its current form in 1949 as part of Aoyama Gakuin. Aoyama Gakuin University ...
, stated that although the ''Protocols'' is probably a forgery,
:"...it was put together from the results of all the research ever done on the Jews...There is no doubt that the contents consist of the wisdom of the Jews."
[Esther Webman, ''The Global Impact of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion: A Century-Old Myth,'' Jewish Studies Series, Routledge, 2012.](_blank)
In 1987, a magazine named 歴史読
''Rekishi dokuhon''(The History Magazine) featured articles titled 世界、謎のユダヤ ''Sekai, nazo no yudaya'' (The world of the Mysterious Jews), which insisted that the
Watergate scandal
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon from 1972 to 1974 that led to Nixon's resignation. The scandal stemmed from the Nixon administration's contin ...
and the
Lockheed bribery scandals
The Lockheed bribery scandals encompassed a series of bribes and contributions made by officials of U.S. aerospace company Lockheed from the late 1950s to the 1970s in the process of negotiating the sale of aircraft.
The scandal caused consid ...
were Jewish conspiracies. It also reported that former prime minister
Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1990, and was Prime Minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974.
After a power struggle with Takeo Fukuda, he became the most influential member of the ruling Liberal ...
said "''Yudaya
Nelson Rockefeller ni yarareta, yudaya ni ki wo tsukero,''"
've been gotten by Jews, Nelson Rockefeller, be wary of Jewswhen he was released on bail in 1976.
1990s
Between 1992 and 1995
Aum Shinrikyo
, formerly , is a Japanese doomsday cult founded by Shoko Asahara in 1987. It carried out the deadly Tokyo subway sarin attack in 1995 and was found to have been responsible for the Matsumoto sarin attack the previous year.
The group says ...
, a controversial
Buddhist
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
religious group, also distributed conspiracy theories to attract Japanese readers as part of their recruitment efforts. Its founder,
Shoko Asahara
, born , was the founder and leader of the Japanese doomsday cult known as Aum Shinrikyo. He was convicted of masterminding the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, and was also involved in several other crimes. Asahara was sentenced ...
, was influenced by
Goto Ben's 1973 book, ノストラダムスの大予言 ''Nostradamusu no Daiyogen'' (
''Prophecies of Nostradamus''), a loose translation of the ''Prophecies'' which became a
bestseller in Japan.
Hideo Murai
Hideo Murai (村井 秀夫 ''Murai Hideo'', December 5, 1958 – April 23, 1995) was a member of the Aum Shinrikyo cult and one of the perpetrators responsible for the Sakamoto family murder.
Murai held a doctorate in astrophysics. He was reporte ...
, one of the leaders of Aum Shinrikyo, uttered the words "" when he was stabbed to death.
In February 1995 a magazine named ''Marco Polo'' (マルコポーロ), a 250,000-circulation monthly aimed at Japanese males, ran a
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that falsely asserts that the Nazi genocide of Jews, known as the Holocaust, is a myth, fabrication, or exaggeration. Holocaust deniers make one or more of the following false statements: ...
article by physician Masanori Nishioka (西岡昌紀) which stated:
:"The '
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
' is a fabrication. There were no execution
gas chambers
A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or other animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide.
History ...
in
Auschwitz or in any other
concentration camp
Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...
. Today, what are displayed as 'gas chambers' at the remains of the Auschwitz camp in Poland are a post-war fabrication by the Polish communist regime or by the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
, which controlled the country. Not once, neither at Auschwitz nor in any territory controlled by the Germans during the Second World War, was there 'mass murder of Jews' in 'gas chambers.'"
The Los Angeles-based
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) is a Jewish human rights organization established in 1977 by Rabbi Marvin Hier. The center is known for Holocaust research and remembrance, hunting Nazi war criminals, combating anti-Semitism, tolerance educat ...
instigated a
boycott of
Bungei Shunju advertisers, including
Volkswagen
Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
,
Mitsubishi, and
Cartier. Within days, Bungei Shunju shut down ''Marco Polo'' and its editor, Kazuyoshi Hanada, quit, as did the president of Bungei Shunju, Kengo Tanaka.
In October 1999 a Japanese publication
''The Weekly Post,''published a story on the proposed acquisition of the
Long-Term Credit Bank of Japan
, abbreviated LTCB in English and in Japanese, was founded in 1952 under the direction of the Shigeru Yoshida government to provide long-term financing to various industries in Japan. Along with the Industrial Bank of Japan and the Nippon Kang ...
by
Ripplewood Holdings, which the article described as being "Jewish":
:"The strong will of Jewish
finance capital, which prides itself on its enormous power and covers the world's financial markets like a fine net, was behind the buyout of LTCBJ. It is not hard to imagine that the offensive of Jewish finance capital will intensify the cutthroat struggle for survival among companies brought on by the
1997 Asian financial crisis."
This soon generated strong complaints by Jewish groups, particularly outside Japan. ''The Weekly Post'' quickly retracted the article and carried an apology on its home page. The publication explained its error by noting that "the problem stemmed from the stereotyped image of the Jewish people that many Japanese people have."
[Daniel Ari Kapner and Stephen Levine, "The Jews of Japan," ''Jerusalem Letter,'' No. 425 24 Adar I 5760 / 1 March 2000, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.](_blank)
/ref>
Current situation
Since the turn of the century, Ryu Ota, an ex-Trotskyist
Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a ...
, is one of the leading propagandists for Jewish conspiracy theory. He has translated the books of Eustace Mullins
Eustace Clarence Mullins Jr. (March 9, 1923 – February 2, 2010) was an American white supremacist, antisemitic conspiracy theorist, propagandist, Holocaust denier, and writer. A disciple of the poet Ezra Pound,
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
...
into Japanese.
On March 8, 2009, Soichiro Tahara (田原総一朗), political journalist and host of TV Asahi
JOEX-DTV (channel 5), branded as (also known as EX and and stylized as TV asahi), is a television station that is owned and operated by the subsidiary of certified broadcasting holding company , itself controlled by The Asahi Shimbun Comp ...
's ''Sunday Project'' program, told Makiko Tanaka
is a Japanese politician. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka and his official wife Hana.
Early life
Tanaka attended high school at Germantown Friends School in the United States and graduated from Waseda University. She s ...
that her father, former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka
was a Japanese politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1947 to 1990, and was Prime Minister of Japan from 1972 to 1974.
After a power struggle with Takeo Fukuda, he became the most influential member of the ruling Liberal ...
, was “done in by America, by the Jews and Ozawa, (leader of the Democratic Party of Japan
The was a centristThe Democratic Party of Japan was widely described as centrist:
*
*
*
*
*
*
* to centre-left liberal or social-liberal political party in Japan from 1998 to 2016.
The party's origins lie in the previous Democratic ...
) too, was done in y America and/or the Jews during a live broadcast. The Simon Wiesenthal Center strongly criticized Tahara for antisemitic and anti-American accusations.
In 2014, 31 municipal libraries in Japan reported having 265 copies of ''The Diary of a Young Girl
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Neth ...
'' by Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...
and other books vandalized, usually with several pages torn or ripped out. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga
is a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) from 2020 to 2021. He had served as Chief Cabinet Secretary during the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe fro ...
said that police were investigating. Japanese politician Nariaki Nakayama
is a Japanese politician who has served as leader of Kibō no Tō from 2019 to 2021. He served as Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in the Cabinet of Junichiro Koizumi and later as Minister of Land, Infrastructure, ...
said that the act could not have been committed by a Japanese, saying that it was against Japanese sensibilities. A 36-year-old man was arrested in connection with the vandalism on March 14, however in June prosecutors announced that they would not press charges after a psychiatric evaluation
Psychological evaluation is a method to assess an individual's behavior, personality, cognitive abilities, and several other domains. A common reason for a psychological evaluation is to identify psychological factors that may be inhibiting a pers ...
revealed that the man was mentally incompetent
In United States and Canadian law, competence concerns the mental capacity of an individual to participate in legal proceedings or transactions, and the mental condition a person must have to be responsible for his or her decisions or acts. Comp ...
.
According to an ADL telephone survey of 500 people, 23% +/- 4.4% of the adult population in Japan harbor antisemitic attitudes. Furthermore, the study reveals that 46% of the population agree with the statement "Jews think they are better than other people," and that almost half of the respondents (49%) think that "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to Japan." However, this survey has been critiqued by journalist Jesse Singal
Jesse Singal is an American journalist. He has written for publications including '' New York'' magazine, ''The New York Times'' and ''The Atlantic''. Singal also publishes a newsletter on Substack and hosts a podcast, ''Blocked and Reported'', ...
as being unreasonably simplistic in its classification of "harboring antisemitic attitudes."Jesse Singal, "The ADL’s Flawed Anti-Semitism Survey," ''New York Magazine,'' May 14, 2014
/ref>
See also
* History of the Jews in Japan
* Antisemitic canard
Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are " sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, such repo ...
s
** Jewish conspiracy theories
Antisemitic tropes, canards, or myths are " sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications" that are defamatory towards Judaism as a religion or defamatory towards Jews as an ethnic or religious group. Since the Middle Ages, such repo ...
** world financial system conspiracy theories, Rothschild conspiracy theories
** Jewish State conspiracy theories
* Fugu Plan
Shortly prior to and during World War II, and coinciding with the Second Sino-Japanese War, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees were resettled in the Japanese Empire. The onset of the European war by Nazi Germany involved the lethal mass persecuti ...
* 1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: ...
and 1970s
File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...
oil crisis (" oil shock", ''oiru śokku'')
* Boycotts of Israel
Boycotts of Israel are the refusal and incitement to refusal to have commercial or social dealings with Israel in order to inflict economic hardship upon the state. The objective of boycotts of Israel is to influence Israel's practices and pol ...
* Israel–Japan relations
* New Left in Japan
The in Japan refers to a 1960s Japanese movement that adopted the radical political thought of the Western New Left, breaking from the established Old Left of the Japanese Communist Party and Japan Socialist Party. In the 1970s the Japanese Ne ...
(''Shinsayoku'')
** Lod Airport massacre
The Lod Airport massacre"They were responsible for the Lod Airport massacre in Israel in 1972, which was committed on behalf of the PFLP." Jeffrey D. Simon, ''The Terrorist Trap: America's Experience with Terrorism'', Indiana University Press ...
*
* Toshio Motoya
is a Japanese essayist, publisher and real estate entrepreneur who is the president of APA Group, which includes APA Hotels & Resorts, one of Japan's largest hotel chains.
Business interests
Motoya founded the APA Group real estate business in ...
* Chiune Sugihara
was a Japanese diplomat who served as vice-consul for the Japanese Empire in Kaunas, Lithuania. During the Second World War, Sugihara helped thousands of Jews flee Europe by issuing transit visas to them so that they could travel through ...
* Norihiro Yasue
was an Imperial Japanese Army colonel who played a crucial role in the so-called Fugu Plan, in which Jews were rescued from Europe and brought to Japanese-occupied territories during World War II. He was known as one of Japan's "Jewish experts", ...
* Shanghai ghetto
The Shanghai Ghetto, formally known as the Restricted Sector for Stateless Refugees, was an area of approximately one square mile in the Hongkew district of Japanese-occupied Shanghai (the ghetto was located in the southern Hongkou and southwes ...
* Jewish settlement in the Japanese Empire
Shortly prior to and during World War II, and coinciding with the Second Sino-Japanese War, tens of thousands of Jewish refugees were resettled in the Japanese Empire. The onset of the European war by Nazi Germany involved the lethal mass persecuti ...
Notes
References
;Bibliography
*
External links
Togakkai (the Academy of Outrageous Books)
(Japanese text only)
* Review o
''Jews in the Japanese Mind''
a seminal book on Japanese attitudes toward Jews by David G. Goodman and Miyazawa Masanori.
by Rotem Kowner
Rotem Kowner ( he, רותם קובנר; born 11 July 1960) is an Israeli historian and psychologist specializing in the history of modern Japan, and a full professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa.
Early life
Ro ...
. A large-scale study of Japanese views of Jews.
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, Aum, and Antisemitism in Japan
(PDF) by David G. Goodman.
by Rotem Kowner
Rotem Kowner ( he, רותם קובנר; born 11 July 1960) is an Israeli historian and psychologist specializing in the history of modern Japan, and a full professor in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa.
Early life
Ro ...
. A critical essay.
{{Asia in topic, Antisemitism in
Jews and Judaism in Japan
Japanese culture
Social history of Japan
Japan