History of the Jews in Japan
Why this is trending
Interest in “History of the Jews in Japan” spiked on Wikipedia on 2026-02-25.
Categorised under Science & Nature, this article fits a familiar pattern. Science and technology topics tend to trend after breakthroughs, space missions, health announcements, or widely shared research findings.
By monitoring millions of daily Wikipedia page views, GlyphSignal helps you spot cultural moments as they happen and understand the stories behind the numbers.
Key Takeaways
- The history of the Jews in Japan reaches back at least to the 16th Century, although some theories suspect much earlier settlement, possibly dating back to the 8th Century.
- This community is thought to have assimilated over time, although Jewish symbolism, depictions, biblical stories and practices (thought to have Jewish origin), survive and exist within a small area.
- These included Jewish seamen displaced to Spanish controlled Naples and Jews converted to Catholicism during the 1492 Spanish expulsion.
- In 1587, some of these settlers were displaced further into Japan, at least one known Jewish merchant arrived into the Yodo river in Kinki Region, where a Christian presence already existed.
- By 1895, this community had about fifty families, and dedicated the first synagogue in the country.
The history of the Jews in Japan reaches back at least to the 16th Century, although some theories suspect much earlier settlement, possibly dating back to the 8th Century.
Early settlements
It is theorised that the earliest Jews to arrive and settle in Japan, came from Tang Dynasty China in the 7th or 8th Century, where a community existed. This community is thought to have assimilated over time, although Jewish symbolism, depictions, biblical stories and practices (thought to have Jewish origin), survive and exist within a small area.
The earliest Jewish visitors of European origin, arrived in Japan with the Portuguese around 1543. These included Jewish seamen displaced to Spanish controlled Naples and Jews converted to Catholicism during the 1492 Spanish expulsion. Later some remained in the trading post on Dejima. In 1587, some of these settlers were displaced further into Japan, at least one known Jewish merchant arrived into the Yodo river in Kinki Region, where a Christian presence already existed.
Recent Jewish settlers were located in Yokohama. By 1895, this community had about fifty families, and dedicated the first synagogue in the country. Jews also settled in Nagasaki during the 1880s, which, as a significant port town, was more accessible to Jews fleeing Russian pogroms.
Although the Jewish community in Nagasaki was much larger than the one in Yokohama, the effects of the Russo-Japanese War resulted in them largely disintegrating and passing on their Torah scroll to the Jewish community in Kobe. Until 1923, the Jewish community in Yokohama became the largest, however after the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake, many relocated to Kobe, resulting in the Kobe Jewish community growing significantly.
Content sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0
