There
has been a spate of articles recently in various news media alleging
that anti-Semitism is rampant in Japan - if not rampant, then thriving
in fertile soil and about to become epidemic. Could that be so? For
what reason?
From my personal perspective here in this intriguing
country I have been able to gain some little experience regarding how
the Japanese view others and also to formulate opinion based on both my
experiences and the reports and counter-reports which have been
published. On the basis of those elements, I would have to state
categorically that anti-Semitism certainly does
not
exist in this country. It never did, and in all likelihood, given the
nature of the people, their culture and their religious orientation such
as it is, it never will take root here.
Buddhism and Shintoism
are gentle religions. Neither has attempted to influence unbelievers to
share the tenets of their unpervasive and quiet belief. Japanese are
not basically 'religious' people; they absorb the tenets of their
religion in their everyday lives, their observances, and their adherence
to the most basic of moral dictums which suggest that one respect one's
neighbour. This is accomplished without any of the overt symptoms
generally associated with religious adherence, and there is no 'guilt'
associated with this lifestyle relating to religion, merely an
acceptance of the way things are, as they
should be.
Japanese
share all the characteristics, behavioural and emotional, of people
from other areas of the world. The emphasis may be slightly different,
but it can only be brought home again and again that basically people
are the same, have the same needs and desires wherever they live.
Japanese have become adept at sublimating their more immediate needs and
desires, however, for the good of the society as a whole; the society
has a tendency to 'act' in unison, sharing an accord, and a vision of
their nation as one unified by shared values to an extent unseen
elsewhere. While there is a tendency to racism, then it is a kind of
reverse racism in that the focus is on the perceived unitarianism of the
people, their common heritage and 'purity of race'
(despite its
speciousness this is a unifying principle in Japan). Japanese have no
wish to dilute the essence of their tightly-knit society. They have no
wish to embrace the presence of foreigners, foreign ways or a dilution
of their belief in the invulnerability of their cohesiveness. They feel
self-sufficient and have a tendency to tolerate the presence of
non-Japanese as being quite 'other' than themselves.
Upon coming
to Japan a foreigner is faced with opposing wickets, one identified for
Nationals the other for Aliens. Through the very structure of Japanese
society foreigners may never feel that they are fully accepted as
Japanese citizens, and in fact citizenship is denied even
third-generation-born foreigners on Japanese soil. Yet the Japanese are
generous, kind, courteous and have no wish to appear totally
exclusionist to the outside world by whom they often feel beleaguered.
The
cause of the furor accusing Japan of being anti-Semitic was the recent
publication of several books by well-known Japanese
(one actually a
member of the Diet ... the Japanese parliament), on the purported social
and economic influence of Jews, particularly Jews in America, on the
world economy. The authors attempt to point out in their books that
Jews control major American corporations such as IBM, General Motors,
Ford, Chrysler, Standard Oil, Exxon, AT&T, and others. One of these
books by well-known Japanese author Masami Uno, has sold almost 600,000
copies. Certainly this might seem to represent a sizeable readership,
but it's well to remember that:
a) Japan is a highly literate society;
b) its people are curious about almost anything;
c) there has been reason, particularly of late, to make Japanese more keenly aware of the world economic situation;
d) Japanese are aware of and admiringly curious about a perceived Jewish ability in finance, economics and business.
And,
not least, the population of Tokyo alone stands at 12-million people.
Proportionately, then, not that large a number have read the book in
question, and of the number which has, it is ludicrous to assume that
the book has been read as anything but a curiosity.
Anti-Semitism
has no place in Japan historically; a community of Portuguese Jews
existed in Nagasaki as far back as the 15th Century as traders, and
there has never been any record of persecution. In Hiroshima, there
exists a monument to the Holocaust. During World War II, a Japanese
consul by the name of Sugihara issued visas to over twenty thousand Jews
in Lithuania, and these Jews were permitted to land in Japan. The
background to this is outlined in a book by Marvin Tokayer and Mary
Swartz, titled
The Fugu Plan - the untold story of the Japanese and the Jews during World War II.
At
that time, thousands of Jews settled in Shanghai, then held by Japan,
and lived out the war in safety. Although Japan was an ally of Germany,
when news of the unspeakable horrors performed against Jews came to
their knowledge they were horrified. When urged by Germany to
annihilate the Jews under its protection, Japan emphatically refused,
although she was eager to please her allies in any other manner asked of
her.
The most recent article on the issue, published in
The Economist,
suggests that the books in question aimed to target the Jews as the
economic movers and shakers
(albeit wrongly) in a surrogate effort to
'get back' at the United States
(toward whom Japan is currently
struggling in a classic love/hate relationship) which many Japanese
believe is actually 'run' by Jews.
Again, this is an uninformed
minority, eager to grasp at any straw to explain Japan's current tight
position where she is being wedged in and censured on all sides for her
trade imbalances and her questionable protectionist trade practises. To
imagine that the ideas are shared by a significant number of Japanese
is wrong.
The Jewish community in Japan is a small one,
consisting of two hundred families. But it is a comfortable community,
here in Tokyo. None of its members have experienced anything akin to
anti-Semitism, nor is there a belief among its members that such an
emotional disease could possibly become endemic here. In an interview
with a prominent member of the Tokyo Jewish community, the very idea was
discounted as not merely remote, but absurd.
A former resident
of Japan, who had spent almost half a century as a trader here, now
residing in New York State, when made aware of the recent controversy,
wrote the major Japanese newspapers with an open letter for publication,
condemning the very thought of anti-Semitism in Japan being possible.
His own long-term personal experience, his knowledge of past events, and
his exposure to the Japanese people and deep respect for their
sensibilities, made him recoil in disbelief at the thought that anyone
could possibly believe that the assertions could have some basis in
fact.
Although Japan does certainly have some 'faults' in her
perception of those other than Japanese
(and that, on her own soil), only
one without knowledge of the people, the society and its history would
ever attempt such a smear - unless the reason for it was purely mischief
of a most evil intent.
c. 1987 Rita Rosenfeld
published in Outlook, Vol.25, No.7-8
