The Selected Aspects of Jewish-Japanese Relations. The Face of Japanese anti-Semitism

There are many factors that significantly influenced the Japanese attitude towards the Jews. Certainly, the most important are: more than 250 years of isolation and cultural dissimilarity, mainly in terms of religion. Within a short space of time, after Japan was forcefully opened to the outside world – with knowledge of art, literature, technological achievements and political and social changes – the Japanese learned about European opinions of the Jews, including the religious ones. However, it did not have an impact on the Japanese attitude towards the Jews. Political developments in the late 1800s and early 1900s created an image of the Jew as an influential person with a great ability in finance management. Japanese elites were convinced that loans granted by Jewish banks contributed to the victory over Western power – Tsarist Russia. Western politicians realised then that Japan has become an important player on Asian political scene. What influenced the Japanese attitude towards the Jews were accusations of inciting chaos in the world – for instance the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Japanese became more cautious, especially when it came to the basic premises of the so-called Fugu Plan but it did not change Japanese-Jewish relations. This attitude preserved even during the times of the Japan’s seemed-to-be close cooperation with the Third Reich – although other countries would tighten their policies towards the Jews.