Behind the Headlines the Jews of the Far East

Jews arrived with Commodore Mathew Perry in the 19th century when the U.S. naval officer opened Japan to trade with the West. The Jewish community today, as then, can best be described as “transient.” It is so transient that the synagogue here collects dues on a monthly basis. Of the 150 families, more than half are Americans, 15 percent are Israelis and 15 percent are Russians. There are also several dozen Jewish families in the city of Kobe.

Transient is the word used here to describe this community of young men and women engaged in foreign trade, finance, transportation, insurance and banking. There are also young Jews attached to the diplomatic corps as well as many American Jewish graduate students on fellowships. It is not uncommon to see Jews with Oriental spouses.

15 PERCENT INTERMARRIAGE

According to Michael Schudrich, a graduate of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and the dynamic spiritual leader of the Jewish community here, 15 percent of the community is interracially married. In half of these marriages, the Oriental spouses have converted and a number of those who have not converted still raise their children as Jews.

Attending Shabbat services at the synagogue is an exhilarating experience. The services appear to be of the Conservative movement of Judaism, but a fact sheet on the synagogue states that as “the only synagogue in Eastern Japan, it can neither be Orthodox. Conservative or Reform, but serves the membership of all shades of belief.”

It is one of the few synagogues in the non-Anglo-Saxon world where the majority of the congregants speak English, including Rabbi Schudrich. Services are held at 6:30 Friday evening and at 9:30 Saturday morning. The synagogue, located in the Jewish Community Center at 8-8 HIROO, 3-CHOME, Shibuya-Ku, is on a choice piece of land. A few years ago the Jewish community sold a parcel of the land and made a financial coup. As a result, the community became self-sufficient.

The synagogue is packed on Jewish holidays and the more than 500 to 600 Jews, including those who are not affiliated, also come to the community center which tries to provide a vigorous social life for its members as well as Sunday school which has 65 children.

The center boasts of many activities, including bar mitzvahs, weddings and other simchas. There is a mikvah on the premises, a kosher meat kitchen, and kosher wine and matzoh are flown in for holidays and festivals. There is also a library and a bulletin board which includes articles by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith dealing with developments in the Jewish world written by Dr. Frank Reiss, director of the European Affairs Department of the ADL in New York.

There are many Israeli companies in Japan and an Israel Embassy. The Israelis here participate in Jewish community activities. Many religious diamond merchants from Israel visit Japan, trying to find an outlet for this depressed commodity. But Jewish traders always have been coming here, according to records, probably since the 16th century when the Portuguese and Dutch arrived on the islands to trade.

When Commodore Perry arrived in 1853, a small number of Jewish merchants who came with him settled down in the principal port cities of the islands. Later, the Russian revolution of 1905 and particularly that of 1917 compelled many Jews to settle in Japan. After World War I, there were about 1,000 Jews in Japan. During World War II, many Jews were transported from Japan to Shanghai in China.

After World War II, many American Jews, some ex-Gls, were stationed in Japan. A number of them even settled in Tokyo which has the power to draw people from every part of Japan and from many foreign countries.

Japan is attractive to people because of its economic standing. In 1980, its GNP was the third largest in the world. A country about the size of Montana, Japan has virtually no physical resources. Yet it supports over 115 million people (half the population of the U.S.), exports more than $75 billion worth more goods than it imports and has an investment rate which is twice that of the U.S.

No wonder, therefore, that so many foreigners come to Japan. No wonder, then, that Jews also come here to learn and to explore. And they have a wonderful synagogue to visit and an exciting community center where they can meet fellow co-religionists.

(Tomorrow: The Jews of China)