![Japan (orthographic projection)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Japan_%28orthographic_projection%29.svg)
The history of the
Jews
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 ...
in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
is well documented in modern times, with various traditions relating to much earlier eras.
Status of Jews in Japan
Jews
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 ...
and their culture are by far one of the most minor
ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
and
religious
Religion is usually defined as a social system, social-cultural system of designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morality, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sacred site, sanctified places, prophecy, prophecie ...
groups in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
, presently consisting of only about 300
to 2,000 people or approximately 0.0016% to 0.0002% of
Japan's total population. Almost all of them are not Japanese citizens and almost all of them are foreigner short-term residents.
History
Early settlements
In 1572, Spanish
Neapolitan Jews who had
converted to Christianity
Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of belie ...
to escape, entered
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
on
Black Ships
The Black Ships (in ja, 黒船, translit=kurofune, Edo period term) was the name given to Western vessels arriving in Japan in the 16th and 19th centuries.
In 1543 Portuguese initiated the first contacts, establishing a trade route linking G ...
from
Portuguese Macau
Portuguese Macau (officially the Province of Macau until 1976, and then the Autonomous Region of Macau from 1976 to 1999) was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colony that existed from the first official Portuguese settlement in 1557 to the ...
. Remaining in Nagasaki, some of them reverted to Judaism, even reclaiming their family names (notably a
Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew defi ...
).
In 1586, the community, then consisting of at least three permanent families, was displaced by the
Shimazu forces. The Jews of Settsu absorbed some of them into its own community (at the time, a population of over 130 Jews), while a minority left or died.
Edo period
Between 1848 and 1854, in
Naha
is the capital city of Okinawa Prefecture, the southernmost prefecture of Japan. As of 1 June 2019, the city has an estimated population of 317,405 and a population density of 7,939 persons per km2 (20,562 persons per sq. mi.). The total area i ...
,
Satsuma province
was an old province of Japan that is now the western half of Kagoshima Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Satsuma" in . Its abbreviation is .
History
Satsuma's provincial capital was Satsumasendai. Durin ...
,
Bernard Jean Bettelheim
Bernát Bettelheim or ''Bernard Jean Bettelheim'' ( ja, 伯徳令 ''or'' ; 1811, Pozsony, Hungary - February 9, 1870 Brookfield, Missouri, USA) was a Hungarian-born Christian missionary to Okinawa, the first Protestant missionary to be active ther ...
(physician), a
Jewish Hungarian
The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived i ...
national resided with his family. There is a plaque at Gokokuji Jinja (Naha).
In 1861, Pogrom refugees from
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
and
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
moved to the port of Nagasaki; these were the first Jews in Nagasaki since around 1584.
In 1867, over one week the Settsu Jewish community was pushed near extinction, disappearing altogether after the
Meiji restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
.
Towards the end of the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
, with the arrival of
Commodore Matthew Perry
Matthew Calbraith Perry (April 10, 1794 – March 4, 1858) was a commodore of the United States Navy who commanded ships in several wars, including the War of 1812 and the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). He played a leading role in the op ...
following the
Convention of Kanagawa
The Convention of Kanagawa, also known as the Kanagawa Treaty (, ''Kanagawa Jōyaku'') or the Japan–US Treaty of Peace and Amity (, ''Nichibei Washin Jōyaku''), was a treaty signed between the United States and the Tokugawa Shogunate on March ...
and the end of Japan's "closed-door" foreign policy, Jewish families again began to settle in Japan. The first recorded Jewish settlers arrived at
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...
in 1861. By 1895, this community, which by then consisted of about 50 families, established the first
synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
in
Meiji Japan
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 by ...
. Part of this community would later move to
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
after the
great Kanto earthquake
Great may refer to: Descriptions or measurements
* Great, a relative measurement in physical space, see Size
* Greatness, being divine, majestic, superior, majestic, or transcendent
People
* List of people known as "the Great"
*Artel Great (born ...
of 1923.
Another early Jewish settlement was established in the 1880s in
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan.
It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...
, a large Japanese port city opened to foreign trade by
the Portuguese. This community was larger than the one in Yokohama, consisting of more than 100 families. It was here that the
Beth Israel Synagogue was created in 1894. The settlement would continually grow and remain active until it eventually declined by the
Russo-Japanese War
The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...
in the early 20th century. The community's
Torah scroll
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
would eventually be passed down to the Jews of Kobe, a group formed of freed Russian Jewish war prisoners that had participated in the
Czar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the t ...
's army and the
Russian Revolution of 1905
The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
.
From the mid 1920s until the 1950s, the Kobe Jewish community was the largest Jewish community in Japan, formed by hundreds of Jews arriving from Russia (originating from the Manchurian city of
Harbin
Harbin (; mnc, , v=Halbin; ) is a sub-provincial city and the provincial capital and the largest city of Heilongjiang province, People's Republic of China, as well as the second largest city by urban population after Shenyang and largest ...
), the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
(mainly from
Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
), as well as from
Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
and
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
an countries (primarily
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
). It had both an
Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
and a
Sephardic
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...
synagogue. During this time,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
's Jewish community (now Japan's largest) was slowly growing with the arrival of Jews from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, Western Europe and Russia.
Imperial Japan
In 1905, at the end of the Russo-Japanese War, the community of Nagasaki went extinct. While the Iraqi community is formed in Kobe (about 40 families in 1941) Following Russia's 1917
Bolshevik Revolution
The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolsheviks, Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was ...
, anti-Semitism exploded in Japan, with many blaming Jews as being the "nature" of the revolution.
Some Japanese leaders, such as Captain
Inuzuka Koreshige (犬塚 惟重), Colonel
Yasue Norihiro (安江 仙弘) and industrialist
Aikawa Yoshisuke (鮎川 義介), came to believe that Jewish economic and political power could be harnessed by Japan through controlled immigration and that such a policy would also ensure favor from the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
through the influence of
American Jewry
American Jews or Jewish Americans are Americans, American citizens who are Jews, Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, nationality, or Judaism, religion. Today the Jewish community in the United States consists primarily of Ashkenazi Jews, who ...
. Although efforts were made to attract Jewish investment and immigrants, the plan was limited by the government's desire not to interfere with its alliance with
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 ...
. Ultimately, it was left up to the world Jewish community to fund the settlements and to supply settlers and the plan failed to attract a significant long-term population or create the strategic benefits for Japan that had been expected by its originators. In 1937, Japan invaded China, with the Japanese ambassador to France telling the ruling Japanese that "English, American, and French Jewish plutocrats" were leading opposition to the invasion.
On December 6, 1938, Five ministers council (
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
Fumimaro Konoe
Prince was a Japanese politician and prime minister. During his tenure, he presided over the Japanese invasion of China in 1937 and the breakdown in relations with the United States, which ultimately culminated in Japan's entry into World W ...
,
Army Minister Seishirō Itagaki
was a Japanese military officer and politician who served as a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and War Minister from 1938 to 1939.
Itagaki was a main conspirator behind the Mukden Incident and held prestigious chief of ...
,
Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai
was a Japanese general and politician. He served as admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy, Minister of the Navy, and Prime Minister of Japan in 1940.
Early life and career
Yonai was born on 2 March 1880, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, the firs ...
,
Foreign Minister
A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
Hachirō Arita
was a Japanese politician and diplomat who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs for three terms. He is believed to have originated the concept of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
Biography
Arita was born on the island of Sado ...
and
Finance Minister
A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation.
A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
Shigeaki Ikeda
, also known as Seihin Ikeda, was a politician, cabinet minister and businessman in the Empire of Japan, prominent in the early decades of the 20th century. He served as director of Mitsui Bank from 1909-1933, was appointed governor of the Bank o ...
), which was the highest decision-making council, made a decision of prohibiting the expulsion of the
Jews
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 ...
in Japan.
With the signing of the German-Japanese Anti-COMINTERN Pact in 1936 and the Tripartite Treaty of September 1940, however, anti-Semitism gained a more formal footing in some of Tokyo's ruling circles.
Meanwhile, the Japanese public was exposed to a campaign of defamation that created a popular image known as the Yudayaka, or the "Jewish peril."
During World War II, Japan was regarded by some as a safe refuge from
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; a ...
, despite being a part of the
Axis
An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis
*Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
and an ally of Germany. Jews trying to escape German-occupied
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
could not pass the blockades near the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
and the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
and were forced to go through the neutral country of
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
(which was occupied by belligerents in June 1940, starting with
the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
,
then Germany and then
the Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
again). Of those who arrived, many (around 5,000) were sent to the
Dutch West Indies
The Dutch Caribbean (historically known as the Dutch West Indies) are the territories, colonies, and countries, former and current, of the Dutch Empire and the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean Sea. They are in the north and south-wes ...
with so-called
Curaçao
Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...
visas issued by the Dutch consul
Jan Zwartendijk
Jan Zwartendijk (29 July 1896 – 14 September 1976) was a Dutch businessman and diplomat. As director of the Philips factories in Lithuania and part-time acting consul of the Dutch government-in-exile, he supervised the writing of 2,345 visas f ...
br>
and Japanese visas issued by
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 Japan ...
, the Japanese
consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
to Lithuania. Zwartendijk went against Dutch consular guidelines, and Sugihara ignored his orders and gave thousands of Jews entry visas to Japan, risking his career. Together, both consuls saved more than 6,000 lives.
Sugihara is said to have cooperated with
Polish intelligence
This article covers the history of Polish Intelligence services dating back to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
Commonwealth
Though the first official Polish government service entrusted with espionage, intelligence and counter-intelligence w ...
, as part of a bigger Japanese-Polish cooperative plan. They managed to flee across the vast territory of Russia by train to
Vladivostok
Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...
and then by boat to
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
in Japan. The refugees 2,185 in number arrived in Japan from August 1940 to June 1941.
Tadeusz Romer
Tadeusz Ludwik Romer (December 6, 1894 in Antonosz near Rokiškis – March 23, 1978 in Montreal) was a Polish diplomat and politician.
He was a personal secretary to Roman Dmowski in 1919. Later he joined the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affair ...
, the Polish ambassador in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, had managed to get transit visas in Japan; asylum visas to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Burma; immigration certificates to Palestine; and immigrant visas to the United States and some Latin American countries.
Most Jews were permitted and encouraged to move on from Japan to 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 southwest ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, under Japanese occupation for the duration of World War II. Finally, Tadeusz Romer arrived in
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 flow ...
on November 1, 1941, to continue the action for Jewish refugees. Among those saved in the Shanghai Ghetto were leaders and students of
Mir yeshiva, the only European
yeshiva
A yeshiva (; he, ישיבה, , sitting; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are s ...
to survive
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; a ...
. They some 400 in number fled from
Mir
''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...
to
Vilna
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional u ...
with the outbreak of World War II in 1939 and then to
Keidan, Lithuania. In late 1940, they obtained visas from Chiune Sugihara, to travel from Keidan (then
Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
) via
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive 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 part of ...
and Vladivostok to
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
, Japan. By November 1941, the Japanese moved this group and most of others on to the Shanghai Ghetto in order to consolidate the Jews under their control.
The secretary of the
Manchurian Legation in Berlin
Wang Tifu (王, 替夫. 1911–) also issued visas to 12,000 refugees, including Jews, from June 1939 to May 1940.
Throughout the war, the Japanese government continually rejected some requests from the German government to establish
anti-Semitic
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 ...
policies. However, some Jews who resided in Japanese-occupied territories were interned in detention camps in Malaysia and the Netherlands East Indies.
Jews in the Philippines were also faced accusations of being involved in black market operations, price manipulation, and espionage.
Towards the end, Nazi representatives pressured the Japanese army to devise a plan to exterminate Shanghai's Jewish population and this pressure eventually became known to the Jewish community's leadership. However, the Japanese had no intention of further provoking the anger of the
Allies
An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...
and thus delayed the German request for a time, eventually rejecting it entirely. One
Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism is the collective term for the traditionalist and theologically conservative branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as revealed by God to Moses on M ...
institution saved in this manner was the
Lithuanian
Lithuanian may refer to:
* Lithuanians
* Lithuanian language
* The country of Lithuania
* Grand Duchy of Lithuania
* Culture of Lithuania
* Lithuanian cuisine
* Lithuanian Jews as often called "Lithuanians" (''Lita'im'' or ''Litvaks'') by other Jew ...
Haredi
Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...
Mir yeshiva. The Japanese government and people offered the Jews temporary shelter, medical services, food, transportation, and gifts, but preferred that they move on to reside in Japanese-occupied Shanghai.
The decision to declare 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 southwest ...
in February 1943 was influenced by the police attaché of the German embassy in Tokyo,
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 ...
. In autumn 1942 he had lengthy discussions with the Japanese Home Ministry. Because the Japanese were mostly not anti-Semitic, he used their espionage fear to provoke actions against the Jewish community. To the Japanese he declared, that he was ordered from
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to provide them all names of "anti-Nazis" among the German residents. Then he claimed that "anti-Nazis" were always "anti-Japanese" and added that "anti-Nazis" were primarily German Jews, of whom 20,000 had emigrated to
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 flow ...
. Meisinger's anti-Semitic intrigue worked. In response to his statements, the Japanese demanded from Meisinger a list of all "anti-Nazis". This list was, as Meisinger's personal secretary later confirmed, already prepared. After consulting
General Müller
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED O ...
, Meisinger handed the list over to the Japanese Home Ministry and the
Kenpeitai
The , also known as Kempeitai, was the military police arm of the Imperial Japanese Army from 1881 to 1945 that also served as a secret police force. In addition, in Japanese-occupied territories, the Kenpeitai arrested or killed those suspecte ...
at the end of 1942. The list contained i. a. the names of all Jews with a German passport in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. Karl Hamel, the interpreter of Meisinger, who was present at the discussions with the Japanese authorities, later testified that this intervention led to a "real chasing of anti-Nazis" and to the "internment of quite a lot of people". He added that "this thesis may be regarded as the basic explanation of Mr. Meisinger’s activities in Japan with regard to the splitting up of the German Community into Nazis and anti-Nazis." This testimony of Karl Hamel to Allied interrogation specialists was kept strictly confidential for a long time. During lawsuits for compensation of inmates of the Shanghai Ghetto in the 1950s, former German diplomats were able to convince the judges, that the proclamation of the ghetto was a sovereign act of the Japanese and not related to German authorities.
At war's end, about half of the Jews who had been in Japanese-controlled territories later moved on to the
Western hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...
(such as the United States and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
) and the remainder moved to other parts of the world, mainly to
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 ...
.
Since the 1920s, there have been occasional events and statements reflecting
antisemitism in Japan
Antisemitism in Japan has developed over the years despite the presence of a relatively small and obscure Jewish population. Japan had no traditional antisemitism until nationalist ideology and propaganda began to spread on the eve of World War ...
, generally promoted by
fringe elements and
tabloid newspapers
Tabloid journalism is a popular style of largely sensationalism, sensationalist journalism (usually dramatized and sometimes unverifiable or even Fake news, blatantly false), which takes its name from the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid ne ...
.
Postwar Japan
After World War II, a large portion of the few Jews that were in Japan left, many going to what would become
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 ...
. Some of those who remained married locals and were assimilated into Japanese society.
Presently, there are several hundred Jewish families living in
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
, and a small number of Jewish families in and around
Kobe
Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...
. A small number of Jewish expatriates of other countries live throughout Japan, temporarily, for business, research, a
gap year
A gap year, also known as a sabbatical year, is typically a year-long break before or after college/university during which students engage in various educational and developmental activities, such as travel or some type of regular work. Gap yea ...
, or a variety of other purposes.
There are always Jewish members of the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
serving on
Okinawa
is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi).
Naha is the capital and largest city ...
and in the other American military bases throughout Japan.
Camp Foster
Camp Foster, formerly known as Camp Zukeran ( ja, キャンプ・フォスター), is a United States Marine Corps camp located in Ginowan City with portions overlapping into Okinawa City, Chatan town and Kitanakagusuku village in the Japanese ...
in Okinawa has a dedicated Jewish Chapel where the Jewish Community of Okinawa has been worshipping since the 1980s. Okinawa has had a continuous presence of Rabbis, serving as military Chaplains, for the past 4 decades.
There are community centers serving Jewish communities in Tokyo and Kobe. The
Chabad-Lubavitch
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch (), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic group ...
organization has two official centers in Tokyo and in Kobe and there is an additional Chabad house run by Rabbi Yehezkel Binyomin Edery.
In the cultural domain, each year, hundreds, if not thousands, of Jews visit the Chiune Sugihara Memorial Museum located in
Yaotsu
is a List of towns in Japan, town located in Kamo District, Gifu, Kamo District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 11,036 and a population density of 886 persons per km2, in 4311 households. The total area of the to ...
, Gifu Prefecture, in central Japan. Chiune Sugihara's grave in Kamakura is the place where Jewish visitors pay their respect. Sugihara's actions of issuing valid transit visas are thought to have saved the lives of around 6,000 Jews, who fled across Russia to Vladivostok and then Japan to escape the concentration camps. In the same prefecture, many Jews also visit Takayama city.
Rabbis
Tokyo Jewish Community
* Rabbi
Herman Dicker
Herman may refer to:
People
* Herman (name), list of people with this name
* Saint Herman (disambiguation)
* Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman
Places in the United States
* Herman, Arkansas
* Herman, Michigan
* Herman, Minn ...
, 1960–1963, Orthodox
* Rabbi
Marvin Tokayer
Marvin Tokayer (born 1936) is an American Rabbi and author who served as a United States Air Force chaplain in Japan. He was later advised by the Lubavitcher Rebbe to return to Japan where he served for eight years as the only rabbi in the country. ...
, 1968–1976, Orthodox
* Rabbi
Jonathan Z. Maltzman, 1980–1983, Conservative
* Rabbi
Michael Schudrich
Michael Joseph Schudrich (born June 15, 1955) is an American rabbi and the current Chief Rabbi of Poland. He is the oldest of four children of Rabbi David Schudrich and Doris Goldfarb Schudrich.
Biography
Born in New York City, Schudrich lived in ...
, 1983–Present Conservative
* Rabbi
Moshe Silberschein, 1989–1992, Conservative
* Rabbi
Jim Lebeau, 1993–1997, Conservative
* Rabbi
Carnie Shalom Rose, 1998–1999, Conservative
* Rabbi
Elliot Marmon
Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the nam ...
, 1999–2002, Conservative
* Rabbi
Henri Noach, 2002–2008, Conservative
* Rabbi
Rachel Smookler, Reform, interim-rabbi
* Rabbi
Antonio Di Gesù, 2009–2013, Conservative
* Rabbi
David Kunin, 2013-2022, Conservative
* Rabbi Andrew Scheer, 2022-Present, Orthodox
Chabad
* Rabbi
Mendi Sudakevich
* Rabbi
Yehezkel Binyomin Edery
Jewish Community of Kobe
* Rabbi
Gaoni Maatuf, 1998–2002
* Rabbi
Asaf Tobi
Asaf is a name. People with the name include:
Given name
*alternate spelling of Saint Asaph (died 601), Welsh Roman Catholic saint and bishop
* Asaf-ud-Daula, Nawab wazir of Awadh
*Asaf Abdrakhmanov (1918–2000), Soviet sailor during World War II ...
, 2002–2006
* Rabbi
Yerachmiel Strausberg, 2006–2008
* Hagay Blumenthal, 2008–2009, lay leader
* Daniel Moskovich, 2009–2010, lay leader
* Rabbi
David Gingold, 2010–2013
* Rabbi
Shmuel Vishedsky, 2014–present
Jewish Community of Okinawa
* Rabbi
Yonatan Warren, 2011-2014
* Rabbi
Yonina Creditor , 2013-2016
* Rabbi
David Bauman, 2016-2017
* Rabbi
Yonatan Greenberg, 2018-present
* Rabbi
Levy Pekar, 2019-present
List of notable Jews in Japan
*
Abraham Kaufman Dr. Abraham Josevich Kaufman (Абрам Иосифович Кауфман, b. November 22, 1885 – d. March 25, 1971) was a Russian-born medical doctor, community organizer and Zionist who helped protect some tens of thousands of Jews seeking saf ...
*
Alan Kawarai Lefor, MD MPH PhD FACS, Professor of Surgery
*
Alan Merrill
Alan Merrill (born Allan Preston Sachs; February 19, 1951 – March 29, 2020) was an American vocalist, guitarist and songwriter. In the early 1970s, he was one of the few resident foreigners to achieve pop star status in Japan. He was the write ...
*
Albert Mosse
Isaac Albert Mosse (1 October 1846 – 31 May 1925) was a German judge and legal scholar. Mosse's importance lies in his work on Japan's Meiji Constitution and his continuation of Litthauer's Comments on the German Commercial Code.
Biography
M ...
*
*
Arie Selinger
Aryeh "Lonk" Selinger (born 5 April 1937) is an Israeli volleyball manager and former player. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest volleyball coaches of all time.
Selinger has served as the head coach of the USA Women's Team in the years ...
*
Ayako Fujitani
is a Japanese writer and actress.
Early life
Ayako Fujitani was born in Osaka, Japan. She is the daughter of Steven Seagal by his first wife, aikido master Miyako Fujitani. As a teenager, she also resided in Los Angeles.
Career
Acting
Fujita ...
, writer and actress
*
Avi Schafer
is a Japanese professional basketball player for SeaHorses Mikawa of the B.League. He played college basketball for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Schafer has been a member of the Japan men's national basketball team, Japan national basketba ...
*
Barak Kushner Barak Kushner (born 7 April 1968) is Professor of East Asian History at the University of Cambridge and Fellow at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He has written and edited numerous books and articles and has spoken on a range of East Asian histor ...
*
Beate Sirota Gordon
Beate Sirota Gordon (; October 25, 1923 – December 30, 2012) was an Austrian-born American performing arts presenter and women's rights advocate. She was the former Performing Arts Director of the Japan Society and the Asia Society and was ...
, former Performing Arts Director of
Japan Society and
Asia Society
The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia. It has several centers in the United States (Manhattan, Washington, D.C., Houston, Los Angeles, and San Francisco) and around the world (Hong Kong, Man ...
*
Ben-Ami Shillony, Israeli Japanologist
*
Chaim Janowski
Chaim (Chajkel) Janowski (June 15, 1853 in Wołkowysk – 10 January 1935 in Tokyo) was a Polish chess master and organizer.
Born into a Jewish family in Wołkowysk (then Russian Empire), he was the older brother of Dawid Janowski. He was educate ...
*
Charles Louis Kades
*
Dan Calichman
Daniel Jacob Calichman (born February 21, 1968) is an American soccer coach and retired player. He played as a defender and is an assistant coach for Major League Soccer club LA Galaxy.
Playing career College
Calichman played college soccer at W ...
*
David G. Goodman, Japanologist
*
Emil Orlík
Emil Orlik (21 July 1870 – 28 September 1932) was a painter, etcher and lithographer. He was born in Prague, which was at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and lived and worked in Prague, Austria and Germany.
Biography
Emil Orlik ...
*
Emmanuel Metter
*
Fumiko Kometani
is a Japanese author and artist (painter) and a longtime resident of the United States. Kometani moved to the US in 1960 when she was working as an abstract painter, spending time at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire where she met her husban ...
, author and artist
*
Heinrich Bürger
Heinrich Bürger (or: Heinrich Burger) (Hamelin, 29 February 1804, or 7 November 1804, or 20 January 1806 – Indramayu (Java) 25 March 1858) was a German physicist, biologist and botanist employed by the Dutch government, and an entrepreneur. ...
*
Henryk Lipszyc
Henryk Lipszyc (born 1941) is a Polish scientist of Jewish ancestry, specialist in Japanese culture, theatre and a translator from Japanese. In 1964 he graduated from the Warsaw University. Between 1972 and 1978 he studied at various Japanese uni ...
*
Hoshitango Imachi
is an Argentine-born Japanese former professional sumo wrestler and current professional wrestler. His highest rank was ''jūryō'' 3.
Life and career
A former swimming instructor, Salomon was spotted by a visiting Japanese coach at a gym in Bue ...
, né Imachi Marcelo Salomon
*
Jack Halpern, Israeli linguist, Kanji-scholar
*
Jay Rubin
Jay Rubin (born 1941) is an American academic and translator. He is one of the main translators of the works of the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami into English. He has also written a guide to Japanese, ''Making Sense of Japanese'' (originally t ...
*
John Nathan
John Weil Nathan (born March 1940) is an American translator, writer, scholar, filmmaker, and Japanologist. His translations from Japanese into English include the works of Yukio Mishima, Kenzaburō Ōe, Kōbō Abe, and Natsume Sōseki. Nathan is ...
*
Joseph Rosenstock
Joseph Rosenstock (, ; in Kraków in New York City) was an American conductor.
Career
Early years
He worked at the State Theatre in Darmstadt, where, on , he conducted ''Hagith'' by Karol Szymanowski, and at the State Opera in Wiesbaden, w ...
, conductor of the
NHK Symphony Orchestra
The is a Japanese broadcast orchestra based in Tokyo. The orchestra gives concerts in several venues, including the NHK Hall, Suntory Hall, and the Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.
History
The orchestra began as the ''New Symphony Orchestra'' o ...
*
Julie Dreyfus
Julie Dreyfus (born 24 January 1966) is a French actress who is well known in Japan where she made her television debut on a French language lesson program on NHK's educational channel in the late 1980s. She has appeared on the TV show ''Ryō ...
*
Karl Taro Greenfeld
Karl Taro Greenfeld (born 1965) is a journalist, novelist and television writer known primarily for his articles on life in modern Asia and both his fiction and non-fiction in ''The Paris Review''.
Biography
Born in Kobe, Japan, to a Japanese ...
, journalist and author
*
Klaus Pringsheim Sr.
Klaus Pringsheim Sr. (24 July 1883 – 7 December 1972) was a German-born composer, conductor, music-educator and the twin brother of Katharina "Katia" Pringsheim, who married Thomas Mann in 1905.
Biography
Pringsheim was the son of mathemat ...
*
Kurt Singer
*
Leonid Kreutzer
Leonid Kreutzer (13 March 1884 in St. Petersburg – 30 October 1953 in Tokyo) was a classical pianist.
Life and career
Kreutzer was born in St. Petersburg into a Jewish family. He studied composition under Alexander Glazunov and piano under Anna ...
, pianist
*
Leo Sirota
Leo Gregorovich Sirota (May 4, 1885 - February 25, 1965) was a Jewish pianist born in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Podolskaya Guberniya, Russian Empire, now Ukraine.
Biography
Leo Sirota began studying piano at the age of five. By the age of nine he w ...
*
Ludwig Riess
Ludwig Riess (1 December 1861 – 27 December 1928) was a Germany, German-born historian and educator, noted for his work in late 19th century Japan.
Biography
Riess was born in Wałcz, Deutsch-Krone, Province of Prussia, Prussia (present-day W ...
*
Manfred Gurlitt
Manfred Gurlitt (6 September 1890 – 29 April 1972) was a German opera composer and conductor. He studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and conducting with Karl Muck. He spent most of his career in Japan.
Life
Manfred Ludwig Hugo An ...
*
Martin "Marty" Adam Friedman, rock guitarist
*
Max Janowski
Max Janowski (1912 Berlin – April 8, 1991 Hyde Park, Chicago), was a composer of Jewish liturgical music, a conductor, choir director, and voice teacher.
Born in Berlin into a musical family, Max was the son of Chayim Janowski, a choir director, ...
*
Michael Kogan
Michael “Misha” Kogan (January 1, 1920 – February 5, 1984) was a Russian entrepreneur who founded the Japanese video game company Taito.
Early life
Kogan was born in Odessa on January 1, 1920 to Riva and Kalman Kogan. His family moved to Ha ...
, founder of
Taito
is a Japanese company that specializes in video games, toys, arcade cabinets and game centers, based in Shinjuku, Tokyo. The company was founded by Michael Kogan in 1953 as the importing vodka, vending machines and jukeboxes into Japan. It b ...
*
Ofer Feldman
Ofer Feldman (Japanese: オフェル・フェルドマン; Hebrew: עפר פלדמן; born 1954) is an Israeli-Japanese Professor of Political Psychology and Political Behavior at Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.
Ofer Feldman was born in Isra ...
, University professor
*
Peter Berton, Japanologist
*
Péter Frankl
Péter Frankl (born 26 March 1953 in Kaposvár, Somogy County, Hungary) is a mathematician, busking, street performer, columnist and educator, active in Japan. Frankl studied Mathematics at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and submitted ...
, Hungarian mathematician
*
Rachel Elior
Rachel Elior (born 28 December 1949) is an Israeli professor of Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Jerusalem, Israel. Her principal subjects of research has been Hasidism and the history of early Jewish mysticism.
Academ ...
*
Raphael Schoyer
*
Rena "Rusty" Kanokogi, née Glickman
*
Roger Pulvers
Roger Pulvers (born 4 May 1944) is an Australian playwright, theatre director and translator. He has published more than 45 books in English and Japanese, from novels to essays, plays, poetry and translations. He has written prolifically for t ...
*
Setsuzo (Avraham) Kotsuji, Hebrew professor
*
Shaul Eisenberg
Shaul Nehemia Eisenberg ( he, שאול אייזנברג; 22 September 1921 – 27 March 1997) was an Israeli businessman and billionaire tycoon.
Biography
Shaul Eisenberg was born in Munich to a religious Jewish family from Poland, being the fif ...
, businessman
*
Shifra Horn
Shifra Horn ( he, שפרה הורן ) (born 1951) is an Israeli author.
Biography
Shifra Horn was born in Tel Aviv. She lives in the Old Malcha neighbourhood of Jerusalem and in Auckland, New Zealand. After majoring in Bible Studies and Archeo ...
*
Suiren Higashino, female photographer, model
*
Sulamith Messerer
Sulamith Mikhailovna Messerer, OBE (russian: Сулами́фь Миха́йловна Мессере́р, 27 August 1908, Moscow3 June 2004, London) was a Russian ballerina and choreographer who laid the foundations for the classical ballet in J ...
*
Szymon Goldberg Szymon Goldberg (1 June 190919 July 1993) was a Polish-born Jewish classical music, classical violinist and Conducting, conductor, latterly an American.
Born in Włocławek, Congress Poland, Goldberg played the violin as a child growing up in Warsa ...
*
Yaacov Liberman
*
Yakov Zinberg, Prof., Kokushikan University
*
Zerach Warhaftig
Zerach Warhaftig (, yi, , also Zorah Wahrhaftig; 2 February 1906 - 26 September 2002) was an Israeli rabbi, lawyer, and politician. He was a signatory of Israel's Declaration of Independence.
Biography
Zerach Warhaftig was born in Volkovysk, i ...
* ( ja, 石角完爾)
*
* , Israeli Esperantist
*
Hideo Levy
is an American-born Japanese language author. Levy was born in California and educated in Taiwan, the US, and Japan. He is one of the first Americans to write modern literature in Japanese, and his work has won the Noma Literary New Face Priz ...
*
Peter Barakan
Peter Barakan (born 20 August 1951, in London, England) is an English-born DJ, freelance broadcaster, and an author of books on music and English language education. He is best known as the presenter of ''Begin Japanology and Japanology Plus'' on ...
*
Steven Seagal
Steven Frederic Seagal (; born April 10, 1952) is an American actor, screenwriter and martial artist. A 7th-dan black belt in aikido, he began his adult life as a martial arts instructor in Japan and eventually ended up running his father-in-l ...
People of Jewish descent
*
Bernard Jean Bettelheim
Bernát Bettelheim or ''Bernard Jean Bettelheim'' ( ja, 伯徳令 ''or'' ; 1811, Pozsony, Hungary - February 9, 1870 Brookfield, Missouri, USA) was a Hungarian-born Christian missionary to Okinawa, the first Protestant missionary to be active ther ...
(
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
)
*
Luís de Almeida (
New Christian
New Christian ( es, Cristiano Nuevo; pt, Cristão-Novo; ca, Cristià Nou; lad, Christiano Muevo) was a socio-religious designation and legal distinction in the Spanish Empire and the Portuguese Empire. The term was used from the 15th century ...
)
*
Martin Kafka
Martin Paul Kafka (born 1947) is an American psychiatrist best known for his work on sex offenders, paraphilias and what he calls "paraphilia-related disorders" such as sex addiction and hypersexuality.
Career
Kafka earned his undergraduate deg ...
Refugees, short expatriates
*
Adolf (Aron) Moses Pollak (Ritter) von Rudin
*
Albert Kahn (banker)
Albert Kahn (3 March 1860 – 14 November 1940) was a French banker and philanthropist, known for initiating '' The Archives of the Planet'', a vast photographical project. Spanning 22 years, it resulted in a collection of 72,000 colour ph ...
*
Emil Lederer
Emil Lederer (22 July 1882 – 29 May 1939) was a Bohemian-born German economist and sociologist. Purged from his position at Humboldt University of Berlin in 1933 for being Jewish, Lederer fled into exile. He helped establish the "University ...
*
Franz Oppenheimer
Franz Oppenheimer (March 30, 1864 – September 30, 1943) was a German Jewish sociologist and political economist, who published also in the area of the fundamental sociology of the state.
Life and career
After studying medicine in Freiburg and ...
*
George W. F. Hallgarten
George W. F. Hallgarten, or Georg(e) Wolfgang Felix Hallgarten (January 3, 1901, München – May 22, 1975, Washington, DC), was a German-born American historian.
Hallgarten was a student of Max Weber in the University of Munich for a short time. ...
*
Hayyim Selig Slonimski
Ḥayyim Selig ben Ya'akov Slonimski () (March 31, 1810 – May 15, 1904), also known by his acronym ḤaZaS (), was a Hebrew publisher, mathematician, astronomer, inventor, science writer, and rabbi. He was among the first to write books on scie ...
*
Karl Kindermann, interpreter and informant for the Gestapo
*
Karl Löwith
Karl Löwith (9 January 1897 – 26 May 1973) was a German philosopher in the phenomenological tradition. A student of Husserl and Heidegger, he was one of the most prolific German philosophers of the twentieth century.
He is known for his two ...
*
Leo Melamed
Leo Melamed (born March 20, 1932) is an American attorney, finance executive, and a pioneer of financial futures. He is the chairman emeritus of CME Group (formerly the Chicago Mercantile Exchange).
Personal life
Melamed was born Leibel Melamdo ...
*
Mirra Alfassa
Mirra Alfassa (21 February 1878 – 17 November 1973), known to her followers as The Mother, was a spiritual guru, occultist and yoga teacher, and a collaborator of Sri Aurobindo, who considered her to be of equal yogic stature to him and c ...
*
Moshe Atzmon
Moshe Atzmon ( he, משה עצמון, born 30 July 1931) is an Israeli conductor.
He was born Móse Grószberger in Budapest, and at the age of thirteen he emigrated with his family to Tel Aviv, Israel. He started his musical career on the horn ...
*
Norman Mailer
Nachem Malech Mailer (January 31, 1923 – November 10, 2007), known by his pen name Norman Kingsley Mailer, was an American novelist, journalist, essayist, playwright, activist, filmmaker and actor. In a career spanning over six decades, Mailer ...
*
Robert Alan Feldman[ (ja)]
*
Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky
Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky (pronounced skĕr-ĕs-kūs'kĭ ; 6 May 1831 – 15 October 1906), also known as Joseph Schereschewsky, was the Anglican Bishop of Shanghai, China, from 1877 to 1884. He founded St. John's University, Shanghai, ...
(
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
)
Other related people to Judaism and Jews in Japan
*
Hana Brady
Hanička "Hana" Brady (born Hana Bradyová; 16 May 1931 – 23 October 1944) was a Czechoslovak Jewish girl murdered in the gas chambers at German concentration camp at Auschwitz, located in the occupied territory of Poland, during the Holocaus ...
, and
George Brady
*
Jeremy Glick
Jeremy Logan Glick (September 3, 1970 – September 11, 2001) was an American passenger on board United Airlines Flight 93, which was hijacked and crashed as part of the September 11 attacks. Aware of the earlier attacks at the World Trade Center, ...
*
Lili Kraus
Lili Kraus (3 April 19036 November 1986) was a Hungarian-born pianist.
Biography
Lili Kraus was born in Budapest in 1903. Her father was from Czech Lands, and her mother from an assimilated Jewish Hungarian family.
She enrolled at the Franz L ...
*
Samuel Ullman
Samuel Ullman (April 13, 1840 – March 21, 1924) was an American businessman, poet, humanitarian, and religious leader. He is best known today for his poem "Youth," which was a favorite of General Douglas MacArthur. The poem was on the wall of ...
Ambassadors
*
Eli Cohen
Eliyahu Ben-Shaul Cohen ( he, אֱלִיָּהוּ בֵּן שָׁאוּל כֹּהֵן, ar, إيلياهو بن شاؤول كوهين; 6 December 1924 – 18 May 1965), commonly known as Eli Cohen, was an Egyptian-born Israel ...
*
Ruth Kahanoff
Ruth (or its variants) may refer to:
Places
France
* Château de Ruthie, castle in the commune of Aussurucq in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques département of France
Switzerland
* Ruth, a hamlet in Cologny
United States
* Ruth, Alabama
* Ruth, Ar ...
(
Kahanov)
Films
* ''Jewish Soul Music: The Art of Giora Feidman'' (1980). Directed by Uri Barbash.
See also
*
Religion in Japan
Religion in Japan is manifested primarily in Shinto and in Buddhism, the two main faiths, which Japanese people often practice simultaneously. According to estimates, as many as 80% of the populace follow Shinto rituals to some degree, worshipi ...
*
Shingō, Aomori
is a village located in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the village has an estimated population of 2,408 in 922 households and a population density of 16 persons per km² (42 people per square mile). The total area of the village is .
Geography
Shin ...
- Japanese village where Jesus Christ is claimed to have fled
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Antisemitism in Japan
Antisemitism in Japan has developed over the years despite the presence of a relatively small and obscure Jewish population. Japan had no traditional antisemitism until nationalist ideology and propaganda began to spread on the eve of World War ...
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Israel–Japan relations (since 1952)
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Ethnic issues in Japan
Racism in Japan comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in Japan, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions (including violenc ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
(1934, 1938)
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Racial Equality Proposal
The was an amendment to the Treaty of Versailles that was considered at the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Proposed by Japan, it was never intended to have any universal implications, but one was attached to it anyway, which caused its controversy. ...
(1919)
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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 conve ...
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Timeline of Jewish history
This is a list of notable events in the development of Jewish history. All dates are given according to the Common Era, not the Hebrew calendar.
Ancient Israel and Judah
;c. 1312 BCE ( ?*): Moses and the Exodus from Egypt
;c. 1250 BCE–c. 1025 ...
References
External links
The Jews of KobeJews in the Japanese Mindby
David G. Goodman and Miyazawa Masanori.
Our historyThe Jewish Community of Japan
{{Asia topic, History of the Jews in
Jews and Judaism in Japan
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...