Japan, the Jews, and Israel


Book Description

Although an ally of Nazi Germany during World War II, Japan adamantly refused to accede to German demands to deal harshly with the some 40,000 Jews living under its control. While there was anti-Semitism in Japan since the early 1920s, there was also philo-Semitism and great admiration for Jewish power, influence and achievements. Japan-Israel relations were very strained and tense from 1952 to the early 1990s due to Japan's dependence on Arab oil. But since 1990 the policy of Japan has changed radically and the country is now a close friend of Israel in East Asia. Meron Medzini compares and contrasts Israeli and Japanese society, foreign policy, and above all economic and technological ties. He analyzes the presence of Jews in Japan since the 1860s and the absence of any Jewish influence, power, and involvement in Japanese arts, media, academia, politics, labor unions, and industry.




Jews & the Japanese


Book Description

"Few peoples have drawn the 'us' and 'them' line so clearly and maintained it for so long." —From The Jews and the Japanese It is difficult to imagine two more widely different—almost incompatible—societies than those of the Jews and the Japanese: a people spread over the four corners of the world versus a people with an almost uninterrupted history of sovereignty in its own land: geographical heterogeneity versus linguistic and cultural homogeneity; a cosmopolitan experience versus an island mentality; strict religious and moral commandments versus group–based and aesthetically bound values. Yet, there are also surprising analogies between these two peoples. It is this extraordinary combination of similarities and differences that are explored. In The Jews and the Japanese, Professor Shillony describes how these two peoples, both rich in cultural heritage and historical experiences, have interacted with the Christian West, their outstanding achievements and immense tragedies, and their attempts to integrate with the West and its repeated rejection of them.




The Japanese and the Jews


Book Description




Jews in the Japanese Mind


Book Description

Why are the Japanese fascinated with the Jews? By showing that the modern attitude is the result of a process of accretion begun 200 years ago, this book describes the development behind Japanese ideas of Jews and how these images are reflected in their modern intellectual life




Under the Shadow of the Rising Sun


Book Description

Japan was a party to the Axis Alliance with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. However, it ignored repeated German demands to harm the 40,000 Jews who found themselves under Japanese occupation during World War Two. This book attempts to answer why they behaved in a relatively humane fashion towards the Jews.










The Japanese and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel


Book Description

Most of the Jewish nation was lost thousands of years ago. No trace of them has ever been discovered. In this startling book, a close examination of Japanese traditions suggests the possibility that the Japanese are the descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.




Jews and Judaism in Japan


Book Description

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 36. Chapters: Ambassadors of Israel to Japan, Israeli expatriates in Japan, Japanese Jews, Japanese rabbis, Jewish Japanese history, Chiune Sugihara, Shanghai Ghetto, Jewish settlement in Imperial Japan, History of the Jews in Japan, History of the Jews in Kobe, A Jewish Girl in Shanghai, Israel-Japan relations, Abraham Kaufman, Norihiro Yasue, Antisemitism in Japan, Seishir Itagaki, Yoshisuke Aikawa, Koreshige Inuzuka, Richie Scheinblum, Rachel Factor, An Investigation of Global Policy with the Yamato Race as Nucleus, Visas and Virtue, Michael Schudrich, Beate Sirota, Kiichiro Higuchi, Ayako Fujitani, Simon Kaspe, Karl Lowith, Delia Sherman, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Jack Halpern, Eli Cohen, Fumiko Kometani, Arie Selinger, Setsuzo Kotsuji, Mir yeshiva. Excerpt: Chiune Sugihara Sugihara Chiune, 1 January 1900 - 31 July 1986) was a Japanese diplomat who served as Vice-Consul for the Japanese Empire in Lithuania. During World War II, he helped several thousand Jews leave the country by issuing transit visas to Jewish refugees so that they could travel to Japan. Most of the Jews who escaped were refugees from German-occupied Poland or residents of Lithuania. Sugihara wrote travel visas that facilitated the escape of more than 6,000 Jewish refugees to Japanese territory, risking his career and his family's lives. In 1985, Israel honored him as Righteous Among the Nations for his actions. Chiune Sugihara was born January 1, 1900, in Yaotsu, a rural area in Gifu Prefecture of the Chubu region to a middle-class father, Yoshimi Sugihara ( Sugihara Yoshimi), and Yatsu Sugihara ( Sugihara Yatsu), a samurai-class mother. He was the second son among five boys and one girl. In 1912, he graduated with top honors from Furuwatari Elementary School, and entered Daigo Chugaku founded by Aichi prefecture (now Zuiryo high...




The Fugu Plan


Book Description

If someone who is rich and powerful comes to you for a favor, you don't persecute him -- you help him. Having such a person indebted to you is a great insurance policy. There was one nation that did treat the Jews as if they were powerful and rich. The Japanese never had much exposure to Jews, and knew very little about them. In 1919 Japan fought alongside the anti-Semitic White Russians against the Communists. At that time the White Russians introduced the Japanese to the book, "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". The Japanese studied the book and, according to all accounts, naively believed its propaganda. Their reaction was immediate and forceful -- they formulated a plan to encourage Jewish settlement and investment into Manchuria. People with such wealth and power as the Jews possess, the Japanese determined, are exactly the type of people with whom we want to do business! The Japanese called their plan for Jewish settlement "The Fugu Plan". The fugu is a highly poisonous blowfish. After the toxin-containing organs are painstakingly removed, it is used as a food in Japan, and is considered an exquisite delicacy. If it is not prepared carefully, however, its poison can kill a person. The Japanese saw the Jews as a nation with highly valuable potential, but, as with the fugu, in order to take advantage of that potential, they had to be extremely careful. Otherwise, the Japanese thought, the plan would backfire and the Jews would annihilate Japan with their awesome power. The Japanese were allies of the Nazis, yet they allowed thousands of European refugees -- including the entire Mirrer Yeshivah -- to enter Shanghai and Kobe during World War II. They welcomed these Jews into their country, not because they bore any great love for the Jews, but because they believed that Jews had access to enormous resources and amazingly influential power, which could greatly benefit Japan. If anti-Semites truly believe that Jews rule the world, why don't they all relate to Jews like the Japanese did? The fact that Jews are generally treated as outcasts proves that people do not really believe that Jews are anywhere near as wealthy or powerful as they claim. It proves that anti-Semites do not take their own propaganda seriously.