Presence and Perception of Jews in Japan: Antisemitism, Philosemitism and International Relations

Abstract

This work analyses the encounter between Jews and Japan and aims to evaluate the impact of European stereotyped views of the Jews in Japan and in the relations between Japan and Israel. Chronologically, this survey encompasses the period from the late 1880s to present day and brings to life a broad picture of encounters, cultural influences, diplomatic strategies, and economic dynamics between Jews and Japanese, and between the State of Israel and Japan. The first part introduces the origin of the encounter between Jews and Japan, in the Meiji and Taishō periods (1868-1926), when Jews and Western-made stereotypes about them arrived to Japan. The second and third parts describe how the stereotyped view of Jews developed in wartime and postwar Japan, with a particular focus on the 1930s-1940s and the 1970s-1980s, when major examples of philosemitism and antisemitism emerged in the country. The reception of the Holocaust in Japan is also discussed. The fourth part addresses Japan-Israeli relations and attempts to assess whether previous stereotyped views affected their development. The fifth part develops the case study of Righteous among the Nations Sugihara Chiune, who contributed to the rescue of Jewish refugees in 1940. Virtually unknown until the 1990s, his recent celebration reflects both diplomatic dynamics and the growing historical revisionism of the Japanese conservative right.